Cooke to farm cod in Newfoundland

Cooke Aquaculture is establishing a demonstration farm to raise Atlantic cod off Newfoundland's south coast, the company and the provincial government announced this week.
 
The Blacks Harbor, New Brunswick, Canada, company will spend CAD 8.5 million (USD 6.7 million, EUR 5.3 million) on the project over the next four years.
 
Canada's government is committing CAD 1.5 million (USD 1.18 million, EUR 930,316) to the project, with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans allotting CAD 1 million (USD 784,400, EUR 620,600) under the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency investing $500,000 (USD 392,200, EUR 310,300).
 
Cooke plans to stock 200,000 to 250,000 juvenile cod in the first year and 400,000 cod annually for years two and three. The first year-class of fish will be harvested in year four. The main purpose of the project is to develop a commercial-scale cod farm and demonstrate that the species can be grown in an economically viable manner.
 
Cooke - Atlantic Canada's largest salmon processor, with farms and processing facilities in Canada, Maine and Chile - is one of several parties involved in a cod-farming project in New Brunswick waters.
 
"Our company has already made a significant investment in the development of cod aquaculture in Atlantic Canada," said Mike Cooke, the company's CEO. "Our Alternate Species team has acquired considerable expertise and experience in this relatively new endeavor, and our sales team has created a real interest in high quality fresh farmed cod in the marketplace. We are extremely pleased to be able to partner with both levels of government on this demonstration farm and look forward to working with them in bringing the region's cod farming sector to full commercialization."
 
"Truly, this is a cutting edge project that will assist our aquaculture industry in moving to the next level with cod aquaculture. We look forward to working with our partners in the industry to make this happen, as we recognize that aquaculture growth and development is extremely important to rural areas of the province," said Tom Hedderson, Newfoundland's minister of fisheries and aquaculture.

Subscribe

Want seafood news sent to your inbox?

You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Diversified Communications | 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101 | +1 207-842-5500
None