Saving Seafood

Group targeting Cooke with undercover video tied to plant-based seafood alternative companies

October 8, 2019 — WASHINGTON — Yesterday, the Washington, D.C.-based NGO Compassion Over Killing (COK) made headlines when it released a video targeting the operations at a Cooke Aquaculture hatchery in Maine. Today, new reporting from IntraFish and Seafood Source reveals that COK has ties to a plant-based seafood investor that is led by COK’s board chair, Amy Trakinski, an attorney who formerly represented animal protection groups. Plant-based seafood products would compete with farm-raised seafood products in the marketplace.

The following is an excerpt from IntraFish’s reporting:

[Compassion Over Killing] has ties to VegInvest, which provides early-stage capital and guidance to companies working to replace the use of animals in the food supply, according to its website. Its portfolio of companies includes plant-based alternative seafood firms Good Catch, New Wave Foods and BlueNalu, among other plant-based food producers.

Read the full story from IntraFish

Read additional coverage from Seafood Source

 

Cooke Commits to Employee Wellness With New Engagement Platform

May 8, 2019 — Employees at Cooke Aquaculture Inc. have a unique opportunity to take a major step toward improved all-around wellness with the launch of an innovative digital platform that will connect the company’s diverse teams and facilitate individual and workplace wellbeing.

“Our people are our most important asset,” said Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke. “This investment is part of our ongoing commitment to creating a culture that empowers our people to grow, connect, and thrive.”

Cooke Aquaculture has partnered with Sprout to implement a digital platform that connects the company’s employees, promotes a shared culture across locations, helps facilitate corporate-led wellness challenges and empowers employee health and wellness with easy-to-use and rewarding programming.

Read the full story from Canada NewsWire at Morningstar.com

Omega Protein: New York menhaden law a ‘feel good’ for environmentalists

April 26, 2019 — Omega Protein says it won’t be hurt by a new law that blocks it from fishing for menhaden in New York state waters in order to preserve the forage fish for whales and other wildlife because it never goes there.

Rather, it’s “feel-good legislation for the environmental community, but it will have zero impact on the company’s operations”, commented Ben Landry, director of public affairs for the Houston, Texas-based division of Canada’s Cooke, when called by Undercurrent News Tuesday for a response.

The legislation passed unanimously, 61-0, by New York’s Senate in February (companion bills S. 2317 and A. 2571) went into effect immediately upon being signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday. The new law, which was sponsored by Democratic senator Todd Kaminsky and assembly member Steve Englebright, prohibits the taking of menhaden with the use of purse seine nets within three miles of the state’s coast.

Because menhaden are sensitive to oxygen levels in the water and can die off by the thousands when large schools become too confined in one area during hot weather, the law allows the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to issue a temporary order to allow purse seiners to reduce the population.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Cooke buys another Latin American shrimp farmer

March 18, 2019 — Canada-based diversified seafood group Cooke has bought another Latin American shrimp farmer, having closed a deal for Seajoy Group earlier in the year.

On Saturday, Cooke confirmed to Undercurrent News the acquisition of Farallon Aquaculture de Nicaragua, a vertically integrated farmer and a supplier of branded fresh-frozen shrimp to major markets in Asia, Europe, and the US.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Farallon Nicaragua is headquartered in Leon, Nicaragua, employs 384 people, and operates a hatchery, three farms and an onsite processing plant from four locations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Read the full story at Undercurrent News