Cooke Aquaculture of St. George, New Brunswick, has announced the closing of its salmon processing plant in Machiasport. Earlier this year Cooke purchased the holdings of the troubled Atlantic Salmon of Maine from Fjord.
Besides the Machiasport plant, Cooke took over several farm sits and two hatcheries. “We had to close the plant because there simply wasn’t any inventory to process,” says Ross Butler, vice president for plant operations at Cooke. “The problem is that the previous owner had not placed any smolts in the water. We’re going to be placing smolts in the water, but possible processing is at least 18 to 24 months in the future if we’re lucky. We’ve told our employees, however, that for all intents and purposes this is a permanent closure.”
Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, said he was told the same thing by Cooke Aquaculture and added, “On a state-wide basis, what we need clearly is more leases awarded so that there will be fish in the future. On a positive note, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aquaculture has been very supportive. Now what we need is to get that support out onto the water.”