The plan to change the name, which is now due to take place on 1 January, attracted a positive response from 99.9 percent of the votes cast at today’s EGM.
The change will align the company’s name to their new Mowi branded range of products, as well as their existing Mowi strain of salmon.
The new name is, however, a contraction of Mowinckel – a well-known Bergen-based family who were amongst the pioneers of the development of the salmon farming sector and founded the company that became Marine Harvest. And, in a statement issued today, Frederick Mowinckel said: “Several members of the Mowinckel family, including the immediate family of the late Thor Mowinckel, have at the EGM today voted against Marine Harvest’s plans to change its name to Mowi.
“We do not wish to be associated with the way Marine Harvest and most other salmon farmers, in our opinion, pollute our fjords, damage marine habitats and threaten future generations. We urge the governments of Norway, Scotland, Ireland, British Columbia and Chile to allow only completely closed farms for any new concessions - and impose much stricter environmental regimes for existing ones.”