Cooke Inc. (also known as Cooke Seafood or Cooke Aquaculture) is a Canadian multinational

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

company based in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, in which it is headquartered in Saint John. Founded in 1985 as a family-ran salmon farm in Blacks Harbour, Cooke stands as the largest

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

seafood company globally. The family-run company operates several vessels and processing facilities under multiple divisions, subsidiaries, and brand names internationally. Outside of its origin business in

, the company has run

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

operations in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

of the U.S. division and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

(Cooke Chile) of the South American division, and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

of the European division. Since its formation, Cooke Inc. has made approximately 100 acquisitions, 14 of which, since 2016, being major acquisitions worth $2.5 billion. As of 2023, Cooke employs nearly 13,000 people, including 2,500 in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

. The company operates in 14 countries and utilizes 800 vessels along with 30 processing plants, while using their own hatcheries and feed plants. Cooke currently makes annual revenues of CA$4 billion. Among the number of companies acquired by Cooke include

Icicle Seafoods Icicle Seafoods is an American seafood processor and wholesaler with land-based and vessel-based processing facilities throughout Alaska. Its corporate headquarters is in Seattle, Washington. The company was started as Petersburg Fisheries, Inc. ...

(2016), Omega Protein (2017), and

Tassal Tassal is a Tasmanian-based Australian salmon farming company founded in 1986. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) from 2003 until 2022. Tassal is the largest producer of Tasmanian grown Atlantic salmon, supplying salmon t ...

(2022).

History

Cooke Inc. was established in Blacks Harbour,

, Canada 1985 by Gifford Cooke and his two sons Glenn and Michael, whom of which started with farming 5,000 salmon in a pen. In 2015, Cooke expanded its operations in the United States by establishing Cooke Seafood USA Inc., while also acquiring the Wanchese Fish Company. In late 2016, Cooke relocated their headquarters to uptown

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

. The company has a history with the city, which is where Glenn Cooke, the co-founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, lives and serves as one of the board of directors for the Saint John Port Authority. They additionally acquired

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an company Fripur S.A. and its

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

-based subsidiary Grinfin, which they used to establish Cooke Uruguay. On December 19, 2017, Cooke fully acquired American fish operations company Omega Protein for a total of CA$650 million, or /share. In February 2019, Cooke acquired Latin American shrimp farming company Seajoy Seafood Corporation. In June 2022, Cooke expanded its office space into the

Brunswick Square Brunswick Square is a public garden and ancillary streets along two of its sides in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is overlooked by the School of Pharmacy and the Foundling Museum to the north; the Brunswick Centre to the we ...

office tower. In November 2022, Cooke made its largest acquisition, purchasing

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n salmon aquaculture company

for $1.5 billion. On March 3, 2024, Cooke co-founder Gifford Cooke died at the age of 85. His death was announced by Cooke the following day. Later that month, Cooke was named one of the top employers for

in 2024. In April 2024, a 2021 False Claims Act lawsuit was unsealed in New York, accusing Cooke of illegally creating a U.S. shell company to cover up its Canadian ownership. On November 14, 2024, the

Conservation Law Foundation Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is an environmental advocacy organization based in New England, United States. Since 1966, CLF's mission has been to advocate for New England's environment and its communities. CLF's advocacy work takes place acr ...

filed a lawsuit notice to Cooke under the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

, alleging the company of "discharging effluent from its salmon pens in the

Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northea ...

and affecting other water uses, including fishing and lobstering". Cooke released a statement on the same day, denying the allegations.

References

{{Authority control

External links

Official website

Official news & press
Seafood companies of Canada 1985 establishments in New Brunswick Fish farming companies Companies based in Saint John, New Brunswick Food and drink companies based in New Brunswick Charlotte County, New Brunswick Canadian companies established in 1985 Fish processing companies Family-owned companies of Canada