Pure Salmon Campaign at Norwegian salmon farms (Photo: Stock File)

Marine Harvest pressured to green its practices

NORWAY
Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 02:30 (GMT + 9)

The Pure Salmon Campaign Coalition is pressuring Marine Harvest, the largest salmon producer in the world, to take environmentally responsible measures by separating farmed from wild fish stocks and utilising a different fish feed.

The Coalition is made up of stakeholders from the leading farmed salmon production countries of Australia, Canada, Chile, the US, Scotland, Ireland and other European nations. Given that Marine Harvest controls over 20 per cent of the salmon market and is the biggest producer of the popular fish, its environmentally pernicious practices are of great concern to stakeholders.

Campaign representatives have been meeting with Members of the Norwegian Parliament, salmon farmers, scientists, financial analysts, journalists, river owners and other stakeholders for the past week in order to discuss the effects of Marine Harvest’s farming practices and possible solutions.

In Chile, biosecurity has not been managed properly either by Marine Harvest or by other aquaculture companies, and this has adversely affected workers by both causing their deaths and opening to door to epidemics of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA), states the Coalition. Over 20,000 people have lost their jobs and salmon production has decreased by over 50 per cent this year, it claims.

"Since 2005, seven Marine Harvest workers and contractors have died on the job," said Javier Ugarte, president of CONATRASAL, the labour union of Chilean salmon aquaculture workers. "In March 2009, two workers died and Marine Harvest has still failed to make the reasons public.

"Not only does Marine Harvest fail to pay sufficient attention to protecting the environment and the animals in its care, but the company doesn't even adequately protect its own staff."

Poor management of salmon pens in the area allow thousands of farmed fish to escape into the open sea during violent weather conditions, added the Campaign. Fish also escape daily due to pens’ general mismanagement, events referred to as “leakages.”

"While massive escapes often make headline news, the daily, unreported leakages from open net salmon farms can be equally devastating to the surrounding marine ecosystem," said Alex Munoz, vice president of Oceana Chile. "Aquaculture companies, including Marine Harvest, have done little to address this growing environmental threat. The industry needs to adopt better technology to dramatically reduce the number of escapes before it's too late."

Marine Harvest’s controlling shareholder, John Fredriksen, said that the company ought to relocate the pens to areas bereft of wild fish.

Another issue is fish feed. The company uses wild fish, such as anchovies, herring, sardines and menhaden, for feed—approximately 3 lbs for every 1 lb of farmed salmon—a currently unsustainable method.

"Marine Harvest has yet to develop a viable, long-term strategy to manage environmental problems associated with salmon farming," said Don Staniford, European Representative of the Pure Salmon Campaign Coalition. "Marine Harvest must commit to concrete reforms to address these problems and reduce their impact on the environment. The company claims to be the model for sustainability in the aquaculture industry, but it has a long way to go before that rings true."

As a result of these conclusions, the Campaign has filed a shareholder resolution with the company requesting a special board committee to review the effects of Marine Harvest’s methodologies.

Related articles:

- 'Salmon industry won't recover pre-ISA production levels': expert
- Marine Harvest shareholder reports mln-dollar losses
- Stakeholders discuss Aquaculture Law's implications for labour

By Natalia Real
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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