Marine Harvest suffer loss of US$416 million in 2008

Marine Harvest, the world's largest aquaculture company, suffered losses totalling over NOK2.8 billion (US$416 million) over the course of 2008.

The company said that the biological situation in Chile is still deteriorating and they are looking to dramatically downsize their operations in this area.

In a fourth quarter report the company revealed that many of its sites that have been confirmed with ISA are still to be harvested out in 2009, as a result previous break-even targets are no longer achievable.

The report predicts further significant losses to come, and also low harvest volumes throughout the remainder of this year and into 2010.

Despite of plans to dramatically downsize the Chilean operation, Marine Harvest said that they are still confident in the long term potential in the area, but for now, the company will concentrate on building its presence in Norway and North America.