Certification “Always Our Goal”

At the Seafood Expo North America in Boston earlier this year, Cooke Aquaculture of New Brunswick, Canada, was recognized for achieving four-star Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) status for its True North Salmon in Atlantic Canada and Maine. The four-star certification is based on independent audits of all aspects of the aquaculture process that ensures a healthy food produced through environmentally and socially responsible means.

CEO Glen Cooke’s pride in the recognition was clear in the company’s press release. “This was always our goal, and our team is proud of this accomplishment. Each step of the journey – from the hatchery to the farm to the feed manufacture to the processing – is done in-house at Cooke-owned facilities so our people take extra pride knowing that it is their work and diligence that earned the BAP four stars,” he commented.

He stressed, however, that this award is not an endpoint for the company, emphasizing the need to be always looking for areas for improvement so a great product can be sent to market, a product with a minimum environmental footprint.

Communications manager Chuck Brown in an e-mail to this writer said, “The unique aspect of True North Salmon’s four-star certification is that we are the only vertically integrated salmon company that does all four aspects of the certification in-house. We are also the first salmon company to have more than one hatchery facility certified to the BAP standard  – we have three hatcheries certified now with more in the process of being certified. All of this makes True North Salmon the largest producer of four-star salmon in North America.”

So like the child with a good report card, the company beams with pride, knowing full well the diligence and hard work needed to keep the certification at the four star level and to continue improving in the future.

— Wesley Harris