New Brunswick’s first land-based atlantic salmon aquaculture facility has been given a green light to proceed by local government.
Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd, part of Cooke Aquaculture Group Inc, said that once completed, the CAN$72 million new post-smolt facility will be a world-class recirculating aquaculture system (RAS).
“Hybrid systems, involving a mix of land and marine-based fish farming will continue to be part of our future. We have been operating land-based salmon hatcheries and marine farms sustainably for 38 years,” said Joel Richardson, vice president of PR for Cooke.
“Innovative scientific technologies bring a new opportunity for greater production in ocean waters by shortening time Atlantic salmon spend in marine cages.”
High-tech project
KCS began planning the high-tech project in 2017 and received EIA approval earlier this year for ground source wells to supply the facility with water.
Associated with this facility are two water pipeline corridors and a marine loading facility.
In March of last year, Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Minister Margaret Johnson, released the New Brunswick Finfish Aquaculture Growth Strategy 2022-2030. Its guiding responsible development in the province’s finfish aquaculture sector with a focus on land-based production through the implementation of new technological advancements.
It is expected the multi-phased project will take three years to complete and create more than 340 direct construction jobs and 222 indirect and induced jobs.
The post-smolt facility is just one of the investments Cooke is making in Charlotte County.
Earlier this year, Cooke’s new, CAN$21 million freshwater hatchery in Pennfield became operational and the company recently completed a CAN$50 million expansion at its salmon processing plant in St George.
The project team for the new aquaculture facility includes New Brunswick’s Sorensen Engineering Ltd and Sweeney International Marine Corp (SIMCorp).
