Cooke Aquaculture Virtual Tour Documents ‘Egg to Plate’ Process
Cooke Aquaculture kicked off World Oceans Day on June 8 with the release of the first two videos in a series that showcases its operations to community members and customers.
“When Covid hit last March, we had to suspend our in-person tour operations, so we decided to do virtual tours by video to help educate people and give them a behind-the-scenes look at how our operations in Atlantic Canada work,” says Joel Richardson, Vice President Public Relations.
The series of 10 videos will be released over the next few weeks and months; each will focus on a different aspect of their operations, such as the life cycle of salmon, processing and distribution, and the technologies and practices that go into modern aquaculture.
More than 8,000 people in Atlantic Canada work in the salmon farming sector. Cooke supports over 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses in its local supply chain, providing jobs and economic and social benefits to rural coastal communities across Atlantic Canada.
Cooke wants to walk people through each part of a salmon’s life cycle and how they are raised, harvested, processed, and then distributed to customers and clients, including grocery stores, hotels, and restaurants.
Susan Farquharson, Executive Director of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association, says that these education tools are important to help the general public learn about and understand local food production, food security, and the aquaculture industry.
“They’re appealing and attractive to a really broad audience that wants to go in and say, ‘How does the marine farm actually operate?’ – you can watch the short video and see that,” said Farquharson.
The first two videos take audiences on a tour through Cooke’s sea farms. Farquharson and Richardson say that because the farms operate in a public resource, they feel they have a responsibility to be transparent and provide as much information as they can about marine farms to the public.
“It’s important for people, when you’re thinking about our local food production and local food security, that they can get fresh sustainable Atlantic salmon from Atlantic Canada that has been produced with great care by industry-leading experts,” said Richardson.
Releasing the first two videos on World Oceans Day was a deliberate choice on Cooke Aquaculture’s part.
“It’s an opportunity to really raise awareness about the benefits that people derive from the ocean,” said Richardson. “As an Atlantic Canadian, family-owned business, it’s our responsibility to share about how we use the ocean resources to be able to raise food, to sustain people, and put food on people’s tables.”
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization has identified marine aquaculture farming as a critical way to provide a protein source to a growing world and generate a low carbon footprint at the same time.
“These virtual tour videos show how Cooke Aquaculture is helping to support that low carbon production economy in a sustainable way,” said Richardson.
“It’s important for Atlantic Canadians to see the people that are their friends, neighbours, relatives, working in the industry and what they have to say about the industry, but also see the various aspects of the farm industry,” adds Farquharson.
The story is sponsored by Cooke Aquaculture.