Cooke to expand with acquisition of Mowi Canada East's fish farms

The company that produces more than half of Atlantic Canada's farmed salmon is about to get significantly larger. On June 30 Cooke Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the salmon-farming operations of Mowi Canada East. Mowi, based in Norway, is one of the world's leading seafood companies and the largest producer of farm‑raised Atlantic salmon in the world. However, its Atlantic Canada operations have struggled recently, with die-offs at numerous farms it owns in Newfoundland during the past two years.

"This is an exciting growth opportunity for our Atlantic Canada operations," says Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. "We look forward to welcoming Mowi Canada East's 250 employees to Cooke and to working together to grow the sector and sustainably farm Atlantic salmon for customers in this region and beyond." Cooke, which is the only producer of farmed salmon in Maine, has been working to expand its operations in Canada, having applied for a number of site expansions in Nova Scotia. With the Mowi Canada East acquisition, Cooke will be producing nearly 70% of the farmed salmon in Atlantic Canada.

"Cooke is committed to growing the sector and continuing to invest in the region's rural coastal communities," says Cooke. "Our immediate objectives will be to stabilize and reinvest in the operations through synergies with our existing farming operations across Atlantic Canada."

Cooke will be purchasing Mowi Canada East's operations and its 9,000 gross weight tonnes of salmon for $225 million Canadian dollars, or $158 million in U.S. dollars. Mowi has operations in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, including freshwater hatchery facilities, sea farming sites and two processing plants. Mowi Canada East has its main office in St. George.

Mowi says it is selling the assets to improve its farming portfolio and focus even more on core farming geographies. The transaction will reduce Mowi's total estimated harvest for 2026 from 605,000 to 600,000 gross weight tonnes. The company has operations in Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Faroes, Iceland, Canada and Chile. It employs 11,500 people in 26 countries worldwide.

Cooke Inc., which was founded in 1985 as a family-run salmon farm in Blacks Harbour, is now a Canadian multinational seafood company with headquarters in Saint John. It is the largest privately held seafood company globally and has salmon farms in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland in Canada; Maine and Washington in the U.S.; and in Chile, Scotland and Australia. Since it was founded, the company has made approximately 100 acquisitions, with 14 being major acquisitions since 2016.

Atlantic Canada's finfish aquaculture sector employs over 9,400 people, generates $3.2 billion in economic output and supports more than 1,400 local businesses, contributing over $600 million in additional economic activity.

The acquisition remains subject to due diligence and customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The closing is expected to take place sometime in the second half of 2026.