N.B. seafood giant Cooke buys insolvent U.S. fish processor, expands global reach

A division of New Brunswick seafood giant Cooke Inc. has acquired Mariner Seafood LLC of New Bedford, Mass., expanding the family-owned company’s operations in the United States.

True North Seafood, the flagship brand and processing arm of Cooke, purchased Mariner Seafood for US$2.75 million after the U.S. company filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

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The sale includes two processing plants in the port of New Bedford capable of processing more than 8,000 metric tons a year of seafood product including scallops, haddock, cod, salmon and shrimp.

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Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke, says it has been a dream of the family seafood company to have a presence in the historic, high-value fishing port.

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The company now has 4,000 employees in 22 U.S. states, with plans to hire additional workers.

Cooke, which started in rural New Brunswick in 1985 with three employees, now has a global workforce of over 10,000 employees in 10 countries. It is the largest privately held family seafood company in the world.