Media Statement From NZ King Salmon
23 October 2015
Media Statement From NZ King
Salmon
Reference MPI media release
re: fish mortalities
NZ King Salmon (NZKS) is working together with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to ascertain the causes of fish mortalities at Waihinau last summer.
“Fish welfare and the health of the marine environment is paramount to us and we have invested significant resources to better understand this episode,” said NZKS Chief Financial Officer Andrew Clark.
“The losses occurred during record high water temperatures and we believe this is a significant contributor along with diet and sea anemones. Our research focuses on these areas and we are collaborating with the MPI and sharing the information.”
At this point there is no proven causal link between the two organisms identified by the MPI and fish mortality. There is simply not enough data to establish a correlation.
That is why NZKS is fully cooperating with MPI in further work and data collection to ascertain if a link exists.
There are no food safety concerns associated with this incident.
“Bio-security is of critical importance to NZKS and we have proactively followed best practice procedures and reported to MPI throughout the process. NZKS values the support and technical resources MPI is providing to better understand this issue” concluded Mr Clark.
Ends