Stromness Play Park Donation

Stromness/Orkney receives children’s play park donation! Sara Duncan and Robert Peterson (right of photo) from our community donations team met Kris and Ruby from the South End play park project to hand over a donation towards this exciting renovation. The team will be following the ongoing work and look forward to seeing the finished park, which will be enjoyed by …

Donation to Orkney Samaritans

Cooke Aquaculture were pleased to make a donation to the Orkney Samaritans. Pictured left to right are Diane Hay, Krystal Flett, Vicci Laird & Sara Duncan from our Orkney Office, along with Gavin Cullen from the Samaritans organisation. If you’re going through a difficult time and would like to talk to someone, talk to the Samaritans.        

Cooke Aquaculture Donation to Shetland Youth Clubs

Staff at the 2018 Shetland Xmas party raised the magnificent sum of £2009 for local good causes. That amount was then doubled by Cooke Aquaculture and donated to 4 youth groups at Westside, Yell & Unst. Pictured at the presentation are members from the youth clubs, Dave Bugh our Operations Manager in Shetland, and Michelle Johnson, Technical Manager. A big …

Mid Yell School Winter Clothing Donation

It can get chilly at this time of year, so we were pleased to be able to make a donation to Mid Yell school. The donation covered the cost of clothing for the children to wear when they’re taking part in outdoor activities. Pictured below is our Shetland Area Manager, David Brown & Technical Manager, Michelle Johnson, who went along …

Stirling University Aquaculture Students Visit Furnace Hatchery

Andy Young, Site Manager at Furnace, recently hosted a visit from Msc students studying Aquaculture at Stirling University. The students were given a complete tour of the facility by Andy, which they all found very interesting For those interested, the Aquaculture Students’ Association are holding a careers day at the University of Stirling on 20th May 2019. This offers a …

Santa gets a lift to Uyeasound Xmas Party

It’s that time of year that a certain gentleman is rather busy. Cooke Aquaculture were delighted to be able to help Santa get to the children’s party in Uyeasound, Shetland on board their vessel “Sea Sapphire”.  

Scottish Cabinet Secretary Ewing visits Orkney to see progress of new high-energy Cooke Aquaculture site

(Kirkwall in Orkney): On Thursday, September 27th, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing, visited Cooke Aquaculture’s Orkney headquarters in Kirkwall to hear about progress made at the company’s new high-energy salmon farming site at East Skelwick, North Sound, Westray. The development of high-energy sites forms an important part of sustainably growing the Scottish aquaculture industry, allowing …

National First for John

John McCulloch from Unst has become the first person in Britain to complete a ground-breaking professional development programme in Aquaculture Management developed by the NAFC Marine Centre UHI.   John has completed the Technical Apprenticeship in Aquaculture Management just over 18 months after it was launched, whilst working as assistant site manager at Cooke Aquaculture Shetland’s Quoys salmon hatchery in …

Simmer Dim Fishing Competition!

16th/17th June 2018, Unst, Shetland The Simmer Dim Competition was started 15 years ago to raise money for Cancer Support Charities. It involves an all-night fishing competition as near to the Summer Solstice as possible, taking advantage of Shetland’s 24 hour daylight at that time. The competition is a fun event which involves fishermen from all over the world, in …

Norwegian Aquaculture Students visit Shetland Sites

A group of Norwegian Aquaculture students visited Shetland recently to look at the aquaculture industry and it’s similarities and differences within the industry. Skretting Fish Feeds Sales Manager, Gordon Reid, had planned a very interesting schedule for the group, which included a visit to Unst. The group visited one of our seawater sites and our Quoy’s hatchery, meeting our very …

Highland Fling

Congratulations go to Chris Webb, our Environmental and Development Manager who recently completed a “Highland Fling”. This one isn’t a vigororous Scottish Traditional Dance but an 85 Kilometre Ultra Marathon which takes in the first half of the West Highland Way. As if running this distance isn’t enough, it also takes in Conic Hill and a total ascent of 2500 …

Orkney Ceilidh Weekend 2018

Cooke Aquaculture Scotland were pleased to be able to support the Orkney traditional dance association at their annual Ceilidh weekend in April. The association aims to promote, revive, and preserve traditional dance throughout Orkney. Every year, a programme of events is held on Orkney over three days and is attended by locals and dancers from all over the world. Local …

Cooke Aquaculture Scotland Launches its new Catamaran

Cooke’s brand new catamaran, the VAILA MARIE was launched recently at Scalloway, Shetland. The 14m x 7m vessel was built at Malakoff’s new boatbuilding facility in Lerwick, with a “sister” vessel currently under construction. The Vaila Marie will be operating on our Walls and Aith sites and will be used for general farm duties, along with heavier mooring work. David …

Cooke Aquaculture Scotland has Hidden Talents!

Andrew Robertson, Manager of Garasdale fish farm is currently reaping the rewards of years of hard work and perseverance in writing childrens adventure books. ATLA Publishing of New York, have recently recognised his talents and given Andrew a 3 book deal for his series of books for 8-12 year olds “The Dijimflippers”. The first book was launched 29th September and …

Apprentice awards

We are very proud of our apprentice, Ross Johnson who has been awarded the Jim Tait Prize for the best SVQ level 2 student in aquaculture. He has also been nominated for Lantra’s Aquaculture Learner of the Year Awards. David Brown, area manager for Shetland said “Since Ross joined us in 2015 he has proven to himself to be a …

David Brown BBC Shetland Interview

David Brown did a great job with this interview about our Shetland operations on BBC Shetland yesterday! Full interview starts at 8.50min: https://soundcloud.com/bbcradioshetland/good-evening-shetland-wednesday-26th-of-july-2017?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook

New Feed Barges at Balta Isle Site in Shetland

Cooke Aquaculture Scotland investment program in Shetland has achieved a new step on Friday 30th of June with the delivery of two new feed barges. The two 300t feed barges have been towed to Uyeasound pier, Unst, waiting to be set up in their respective sites. One barge is planned to be used on the re-developed Balta Isle site which …

East of Skelwick Skerry Site in Westray, Orkney Receives Full Planning Permission

Cooke Aquaculture Scotland Limited is pleased that the East of Skelwick Skerry Site in Westray, Orkney, has now been granted full planning permission, following today’s first Planning committee meeting of the new Council. The site is relatively offshore at 2.5km from the nearest landfall and will be equipped with technology that has been specifically adapted for high energy sites. Cooke …