It takes Pisciculture Acadienne two years to amass enough fish to make the aquaculture operation viable. (Submitted by Emmanuel Chiasson/Pisciculture Acadienne)

A northern New Brunswick fish farm lost 95 per cent of its Arctic char during the record cold over the weekend.

Pisciculture Acadienne, an aquaculture farm on the Acadian Peninsula, says the estimated 95,000 to 100,000 fish it lost were worth at least $600,000.

Owner Emmanuel Chiasson said the extreme weather caused a power outage, and the farm's generator failed. Without power, no water was circulating in the fish's tanks, so the fish ran out of oxygen.

He said the future of his farm, which has five employees, including himself, is uncertain.

WATCH | Power failure caused by extreme cold destroys fish stock:

"It takes like two years to build an inventory like that," he said. 

"I don't know what's going to be next, but for sure we're going to need help."

On Friday and Saturday, temperatures in some areas of the Maritimes were the same as those in the Arctic. Wind chill values ranged from -40 to -50, according to Environment Canada, and several areas saw low-temperature records broken.

"I don't know what's going to be next, but for sure we're going to need help."

On Friday and Saturday, temperatures in some areas of the Maritimes were the same as those in the Arctic. Wind chill values ranged from -40 to -50, according to Environment Canada, and several areas saw low-temperature records broken.

                                         The fish farm on the Acadian Peninsula, has lost between 95,000 and 100,000 fish. (Submitted by Emmanuel Chiasson/Pisciculture Acadienne)

The extreme cold caused more than 29,000 N.B. Power customers to lose power, including customers in Bas-Caraquet,  where the farm is located.

Chiasson said the generator started, but it kept shutting down because the electronics couldn't handle the cold. He said the generator is used a lot, since the company sees a power outage every few months, although it's never failed like this.

He said without power, the fish could survive for about an hour, but it took workers more than two hours to start up the system. 

He said even if they were to start over, the clients would have already moved on by the time their stock is recovered.

Chiasson has already told the company's staff that they may be without jobs soon.

Pisciculture's building was insured, he said, but the fish were not covered. His company will ask for help from banks, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the provincial government.

"Right now we don't know if we'll be able to continue this operation."