Marine Harvest cautious over production – Fishfarmer Magazine

Marine Harvest cautious over production18 November, 2011 –

Marine Harvest CEO, Robert Riethmüller, has said the company will not expand in 2011 or in 2012 because of the Chilean health situation after the crisis caused by the virus of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) since 2007.

In 2010 the company farmed eight million smolts and this year, seven million has been farmed. By 2012 a similar stocking level to last year’s is planned, said the executive from the salmon firm of Norwegian capital, Aqua reported.

Last July, the world’s main fish breeder anticipated that it would cut costs, produce less salmon and improve its market strategy.

In the middle of the year, Marine Harvest executive president, Alf-Helge Aarskog, expressed “concern” about the salmon market balance in view of the increase in the volume produced in Norway and the good prospects for Chile to recover the levels the country had before the ISA crisis.

According to Riethmüller, the company is being cautious in terms of production, “We will not expand until we have clear signs of the industry being 100 per cent safe.”

“Our responsibility is tremendous with the community and with the people working in the industry, which can not afford another crisis like the one caused by ISA virus. Today we are growing in a responsible way, step by step, so as to be sure that we are doing the right thing,” he continued.

He added that since January he had experienced within the company management at all levels the willingness to carry out sustainable projects to ensure the sector remains in the long term.