TRURO, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA — Northeast Nutrition Inc. celebrated the expansion of its fish feed mill in the Truro Business Park in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The facility produces salmon feed for Cooke Aquaculture’s operations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Maine. Northeast Nutrition was established by Cooke in 2007 after the former Shur-Grain aquaculture feed mill plant was purchased from Nutreco.
As part of a five-year, C$20.3 million investment plan, several equipment and technology upgrades have been made that will enhance product quality. Some of the key recent upgrades include:
- Replacing all bulk silos to increase available storage to 3,400 tonnes from 2,400 tonnes.
- A new, larger grinder, which increased capacity from 6 tph to 16 tph.
- New, high-powered extruder and dryer, which increased the plant’s capacity by 50%.
- Upgraded vacuum coating system to allow for increase capacity.
- New cooler to regulate product temperature prior to packaging.
- New screens and conveyors.
“As a result of these investments, Northeast Nutrition will produce up to 100,000 tonnes of fish feed each year from the mills previous production of 65,000,” said Matt Miller, general manager of Northeast Nutrition Inc. “Our people are doing excellent work and all of our salmon is reared using feeds that are manufactured in compliance with the highest standards for animal feed safety.”
Cooke Aquaculture is only half-way through its 2018-22 capital investment plan for Nova Scotia that includes spending C$112 million on the Northeast Nutrition mill capacity expansion in Truro, a new A.C. Covert seafood distribution and retail center in Dartmouth, along with hatchery and post-smolt facilities and seawater site and equipment upgrades.
Throughout the lifecycle, farmed salmon are on a strictly monitored diet of nutrient-dense, high performance feed, which is formulated in-house at Northeast Nutrition’s research center, which oversees ongoing research and development and testing to ensure a product of the highest standards.
“Sustainable and healthy approaches to feeding the world’s growing population are more critical now than ever before,” said Joel Richardson, vice-president of public relations for Cooke Aquaculture. “As wild fisheries have reached their harvest capacity, aquaculture, or fish farming, is needed so that future generations can enjoy the seafood we do today. Our commitment to sustainably sourced feed ingredients, ongoing improvements to feed formulations and innovations in feed delivery allow us to produce healthy fish for our customers.”
