Environment & Conservation
Setting the Highest Standards.
Protecting the ocean has always been essential to our business. We understand that feeding future generations depends on what we do today, and we are dedicated to our role as environmental stewards.
Through our many certifications and partnerships with research institutions, we continue to set the highest standards for responsible harvesting and sustainable processes across all lines of business.
We maintain Management Systems which allow us to effectively manage and implement procedures, documents and records to ensure compliance with regulations, 3rd party certifications and our own internal controls. Read our Sustainability Policy here.
We also use Third-Party Certification Programs to challenge us to go above and beyond our regulatory requirements in key areas like environmental and social responsibility, food safety, animal welfare and traceability. Certifications for our farm-raised or wild-caught products include Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management, Label Rouge, Soil Association Organic, Friend of the Sea, Global G.A.P., British Retail Consortium among others.
The 4-Star BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices) Certification mark, attests that our farmed salmon meets the BAP standards on four separate links in the chain of production: sea sites, processing plants, feed mills and freshwater hatcheries.
Cooke is committed to continuous improvement of quality and environmental performance. Our pristine fresh water and marine environment is vital and we continuously strive to protect these and other resources while still delivering superior quality salmon.
Community Conservation
Cooke works with a variety of community, government and conservation organizations on projects throughout the world. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.
Fundy Salmon Recovery Project
Fundy Salmon Recovery is a partnership that operates the World’s First Wild Salmon Marine Conservation Farm on Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick. The project is a true collaboration of community, academic and industry stakeholders working together to protect young salmon and improve their chances to survive and reproduce when released back to the wild as adults.
Magaguadavic River Atlantic Salmon Restoration Project
The Magaguadavic River Atlantic Salmon Restoration Project is a partnership between Cooke and the Magaguadavic River Salmon Recovery Group (MRSRG) – consisting of anglers, conservation organizations, industry, and government agencies. MRSRG was formed in 1998 with the goal of restoring wild Atlantic salmon stocks in the Magaguadavic River.
Clean the Bay Day
Our team at the Wanchese Fish Co. are proud participants in Clean the Bay Day as we team up with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and a long list of business and community partners to remove debris and litter from hundreds of miles of ocean, stream and river shorelines around Virginia. Our teams in other operating areas participate in local beach cleanups and our vessels are often used to haul the garbage away for disposal.
Community Commitment
Shared values, shared success.
Cooke is a team effort in every sense. We share the same values, and strive for the same goals. Developing strong, healthy families is important to all of us. Our working waterfronts serve as a vital socioeconomic driver in coastal communities around the world.
Together, we produce world-class seafood. We work hard to generate shared prosperity and take pride in our work. We are an intrinsic part of the communities in which we live and work. Which is why Cooke supports and participates in a wide variety of family and community events in all the regions where we live and work. Our collective success only makes us stronger.
Aquaculture helps keep shipyard busy
Emergency Relief
Whether it’s responding quickly to an urgent need or providing ongoing support to programs that enrich our lives on a daily basis, community involvement is an important part of the Cooke culture.
Cooke employees have helped flood victims in St. George, Canada and Cumbria, UK, and sent relief to forest fire victims in Alberta, Canada. In Petersburg, Alaska, we host a brunch to honour and raise funds for first responders. In Scotland, our contributions have helped bring new equipment to the Yell Health Support Group. And when local food bank shelves are empty and the need for donations is most desperate – we’re there.
Giving Back
Our team has raised raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer charities from New Brunswick to Newfoundland to Scotland and Spain. We are also a major sponsor of the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia – a facility that provides quality care to women, children, youth and families in the Maritime provinces and beyond.
We also provide scholarships, sponsorships, and support to a variety of community agencies, arts initiatives, sporting events and school programs.
Taking Care of Each Other
Helping employees and their families is also important. At Cooke, our Wellness initiatives include an Employee Assistance Program provides anonymous help coping with a variety of issues from mental health to financial management to addiction.
We also remind our employees how important they are through Employee Appreciation Days, an annual family carnival and simple celebrations like a pizza party, popcorn days or draws for prizes.
Large and small, public or sometimes private, helping our employees, and our communities, is a way of life at Cooke.
2010 Charlotte County Floods
Cooke Aquaculture employees provided significant leadership and support to the Charlotte County communities during and after the floods of December 2010, including pumping out flooded houses, feeding relief workers and finding shelter, and gifts, for families over Christmas
2011 Grand Manan Ferry Aground
When the Grand Manan V ferry ran aground in Blacks Harbour, NB in 2011, a nearby Cooke Aquaculture harvest vessel, the Atlantic Bay, moved in to help get passengers ashore.