Mowi Canada East employees, like the one pictured, will join the 15,000 employees that Cooke already has in 16 countries.
Photo: Mowi Canada East.
Earlier today, Mowi announced that it had reached a CAD 225 million (EUR 139m / USD 158m) agreement to sell its Canada East salmon farming operations to Cooke Inc. Shortly afterwards, the CEO of the Canadian family-owned seafood company issued a statement outlining Cooke's immediate goals following the acquisition, which include retaining all of Mowi's employees.
"This is an exciting growth opportunity for our Atlantic Canada operations," Glenn Cooke stated. "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," the CEO of Cooke Inc. added.
In its release, the New Brunswick-based company noted that the Canadian Atlantic finfish aquaculture sector employs more than 9,400 people, generates an economic output of CAD 3.2 billion, produces more than 356 million meals annually, and supports more than 1,400 local businesses, contributing an additional CAD 600 million in economic activity.
"Cooke is committed to growing the sector and continuing to invest in the region's rural coastal communities," Glen Cooke continued. "Our immediate objectives will be to stabilize and reinvest in the operations through synergies with our existing farming operations across Atlantic Canada," he added.
Although, as Cooke now recalled, the acquisition remains subject to due diligence and customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, Mowi's release this morning said the transaction is expected to take place in the second half of 2026.
As WeAreAquaculture already reported this morning, at the time of the deal's signing in late June, the standing salmon biomass on Mowi's Canada East operations was 9k gutted weight tons (GWT). This morning, the Norwegian company had already warned that the transaction would reduce its 2026 volume guidance from 605k GWT to 600k GWT.
Now, Cooke noted that the share purchase agreement covers Mowi's operations in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, including freshwater hatcheries, marine farming sites, and two processing plants. These will complement the operations that the company, which originated in the region, already has there and has recently continued to expand.
In March 2025, Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd.—Cooke's Atlantic Canadian salmon farming division—acquired AquaBounty's former operations on Prince Edward Island, including hatchery and RAS facilities at Bay Fortune and Rollo Bay, to support smolt production for its existing marine salmon farming sites in the region. More recently, in February this year, Kelly Cove Salmon also received approval from the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board to expand its Liverpool Bay farm to a total of 20 pens.
The Canadian east coast continues to be a boon for the company, which hasn't fared as well on the west coast—a bit further south, in the U.S. state of Washington, neighboring the also salmon-producing region of British Columbia—where it decided more than two years ago to quit its legal battle over steelhead trout farm leases.
Instead, and beyond North America, the Canadian family-owned seafood company has continued to expand and invest to further grow its business. In March, it launched the largest single-capital project of its Scotland's subsidiary, investing GBP 20m plus to transform its salmon hatchery in Cairndow into a state-of-the-art RAS facility. Just a week later, we also learned that it had signed a preliminary agreement to acquire Avramar Greece.