Land-based salmon farming will be a possibility someday, but it will never replace all at-sea aquaculture operations, according to the CEO of one of the world's largest vertically integrated aquaculture producers.

"Even if land-based became a reality we’re still going to need farming at sea," Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Aquaculture and the Cooke Inc. family of companies, told delegates at the IntraFish Seafood Leadership Breakfast in Boston Monday.

"If you look at profitability, no one is making money," he said of current land-based projects.