Cooke vows to reopen Maine salmon plant

Cooke Aquaculture Inc. is committed to reopening a processing plant in Maine, either in Machiasport or Eastport, by December 2007, according to Glenn Cooke, CEO of the company. The processing facility would provide "a couple hundred jobs," with the salmon-farming company looking to offer 500 jobs in the state with all of its operations. "Our company is very committed to seeing jobs here and getting a plant here," he stated at a luncheon hosted by the salmon-farming company for Governor John Baldacci at the Boat School in Eastport on August 29.

At present, Cooke, based in St. George and Blacks Harbour, N.B., employs 80 workers in Maine, with 48 employed in Eastport. The company is conducting a cost-benefit analysis and looking at the labor force as part of the process for making the decision on which plant to reopen. The Eastport plant was operated by Heritage Salmon, and the Machiasport facility was run by Atlantic Salmon of Maine.

Glenn Cooke said that the plant would be processing some 25 million pounds of salmon a year and the company would like to double or triple salmon production in the state. Annual salmon production in Maine has dropped from 36 million pounds in 2000 to about 12 million pounds at present.

Cooke Aquaculture is now the only company raising salmon in the state, having acquired Atlantic Salmon of Maine in 2004 and the east coast operations of both Heritage Salmon and Marine Harvest -- the former Stolt Sea Farm -- in 2005. Since 2004 the company has invested $25 million in the state, in fish and new equipment. Glenn Cooke noted that another $60 million will be invested by the time the fish that have been placed in the water this year are harvested in two years. Cooke is putting three million smolts into Maine waters this year, with 10 farm sites presently in operation. In 2005, the three existing Maine companies placed only 300,000 smolts in the water. "We've stocked as many fish in Maine as in New Brunswick this year," Cooke noted, adding, "There's a positive atmosphere in the state now."

Glenn Cooke also noted that the state had helped the salmon farming industry in getting duties on Norwegian farmed salmon extended for another five years by the International Trade Commission. In 1991 an anti-dumping duty was imposed on Norwegian exports of farmed salmon to the U.S., which essentially closed the market for Norwegian salmon.

Governor John Baldacci stated that he appreciated the efforts by Cooke Aquaculture to provide "real economic development" for the state. "I'm excited about this opportunity," he said, noting that a processing plant would help build up the number of jobs. He told the employees at the Eastport luncheon that they have the expertise in salmon farming and Cooke is looking for a place to invest, so it's "a natural fit." He also commented that the different departments of state government will be working to help Cooke Aquaculture in its endeavors. "We're going to roll out the red carpet," he stated. After stopping to meet with Cooke employees and view the salmon farming operations in Eastport, Baldacci toured Cooke's value-added processing plant in St. George, N.B.

Noting that Cooke Aquaculture is "a relative newcomer" to the state, the company believes it is important to work with community groups and state and federal officials, says Nell Halse, director of communications for Cooke. She notes that state officials need assurance that the company is "here for the long-term. That is our intent and is why we're putting this many fish in the water and planning a processing facility."

Cooke also is operating three hatcheries in the state: one in Bingham that was owned by Stolt Sea Farm; one at Gardiner Lake that was operated by Heritage Salmon; and the Oquossoc hatchery that was slated for closure. The company is also looking at cod farming and multitrophic aquaculture projects in the state and is involved in several collaborative research projects, including with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Franklin facility.

With the move in both New Brunswick and Maine to three-bay management systems, Cooke will need either to add a few additional sites in Maine for its third year-class of fish or to reconfigure some existing sites with boundary expansions. The three-bay system allows for the fallowing of sites as part of the effort to break the cycle of infectious salmon anemia (ISA). The three areas will be the Cobscook Bay, the Cutler area, and the Machias Bay area.

Marine Resources Commissioner George Lapointe says that, with the addition of public scoping meetings to the permitting process for new aquaculture sites, he is hopeful that Cooke would be able to get some new farms in the state.

Two Cobscook Bay sites to be retained by Cooke
According to Lapointe, Cooke was still discussing with the Maine Office of the Attorney General the ownership of two sites in Cobscook Bay, Prince Cove and Rodger's Island, that it was required to sell as part of the settlement of an anti-trust suit when it acquired the former Stolt Sea Farm's east coast assets last December. The AG's office had challenged the acquisition because it placed Cooke in a virtual monopoly position. A court-ordered consent decree required Cooke also to surrender four leases, to bring the company into compliance with the state's limitation, at that time, of 500 acres that can be leased by one company.

Since the meeting in Eastport, Assistant Attorney General Francis Ackerman says that the AG's office has now notified Cooke Aquaculture that the company has complied with its obligations to try to sell the Prince Cove and Rodger's Island sites and can now place them back into production. Along with Cooke's attempts to find a buyer, the AG's office also looked into the matter and determined that there is no interest at this time. The Department of Marine Resources still will be able to deny the renewal of those leases to enhance competition at a future time.

Cooke is planning to place smolts at the Rodger's Island site this year but not at the Prince Cove location.