Cooke lays out growth plans for Nova Scotia

Cooke Aquaculture wants to significantly increase the amount of salmon it farms in Nova Scotia, saying more fish are necessary to justify a CAD $150 million ($149 million/€112 million) investment in a new processing plant.

Ben DiPietro

The Newfoundland & Labrador-based company has applications for several new farm sites in Nova Scotia, and expects approval for at least one farm site in the near future, which would allow it to put fish in the water this spring, spokesman Chuck Brown told IntraFish.

Company executives were in the area earlier this month to meet with municipal officials and explain their long-range plans for the region.

“We do have farms in Nova Scotia now and we would love to process in Nova Scotia, but we need to have enough production to justify it,” he said.

The company wants to add two more farm sites in Digby, each capable of handling up to one million fish, and has similar applications for Shelburne. “We’re producing one million fish in area but with the new applications we could potentially triple production in that area,” said Brown.