Marine Harvest 4Q output down

Marine Harvest, an Oslo-based Norwegian aquaculture group, released its fourth-quarter production results on Monday (Jan 18), including a 9,000-tonne drop in Chilean output.

The world's largest farmed salmon company produced a total of 87,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2009, down 3,000 tonnes from the same period in 2008 but up 5,000 tonnes from the third-quarter forecast.

Norwegian output was up 5,000 tonnes to 58,000 tonnes, while Chilean output was down 9,000 tonnes to just 6,000 tonnes due to the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) outbreak. Scottish and Canadian output reached 10,000 tonnes and 9,000 tonnes, respectively.

In addition, Marine Harvest Norway posted a per-kilogramme operational EBIT of approximately NOK4.1 in the fourth quarter of 2009, a figure negatively influenced by approximately NOK0.65 due to harvesting from a farm site hit with pancreas disease in November.

Earlier, Svein Aaser, who has been Marine Harvest's chairman since the company's inception in 2006, announced that he is stepping down from his post, effective January 18. Vice Chairman Ole Eirik Leroy will step in as chairman and Leif Frode Onarheim will act as vice chairman through the next annual general meeting late this year.