Cooke Aquaculture to Buy Alaska Seafood Processor

EASTPORT, Maine (AP) — One of the biggest players in East Coast salmon farming has announced plans to acquire one of the largest seafood processors in Alaska.

Officials with Cooke Aquaculture say they have signed a deal to purchase Icicle Seafoods. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

Cooke Aquaculture is based in New Brunswick, Canada, and has operations in Atlantic Canada, Maine, Chile, Spain and Scotland.

Icicle has three business units that harvest and process more than 150,000 metric tons of seafood every year. The company trades in farmed Atlantic salmon, wild salmon and groundfish.

Cooke says the move will add Atlantic salmon farming operations in Washington to the company's farming operations in Maine.

Cooke will also become the only company that farms salmon while being significantly invested in wild salmon.