Fish-loss fiction, says salmon farm

HUON Aquaculture says it will not report a fish loss to the Australian Securities Exchange and the numbers had been grossly exaggerated by the Greens.

“There is no requirement to report this to the ASX because the fish escape purported by the Greens is nothing like the truth,” chief executive officer Peter Bender said.

“We will not be providing any further commentary on false claims.”

Greens Environment spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff told parliament the Greens believed the loss could have been as high as 600,000 fish.

Under ASX listing rules a company is required to disclose information to the market if it is believed it could have a material effect on the share price. Huon’s shares rose 3c to close at $4.79 yesterday.

Mr Bender said the Greens were trying to “whip up a media frenzy for their own political gain”.

Huon has reported the loss of “some fish” to the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.

A department spokeswoman said there was minimal disease risk associated with the escape.

“While POMV is a disease that can be found in farmed salmon, it is an endemic disease in pilchards and is already present in the wild,” she said.

“Research undertaken by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies also indicates escapee salmon have low survivorship in the wild and so will have no long-term impact on the ecosystem.”

The department did not respond to a query about the amount of fish lost.

Huon’s latest half-year report reveals that the lost Atlantic salmon would be worth nearly $14 each if they were up to the company average.