The mortalities occurred at Mowi-owned Northern Harvest Sea Farms following unusually high sea water temperatures off the Coast of Bays in late August and early September and equated to approximately 5,000 tonnes of fish.
The company was informed on 13 October by the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources of Newfoundland and Labrador that 10 of the 47 licences it holds in the province have been temporarily suspended.
Mowi Canada has revealed that the mortalities were insured, but one-off costs will still knock €5 million off their Q3 results, while the impact on the company’s harvest volumes for 2019 is expected to be a reduction of approximately 1,000 tonnes.
The statement by Mowi makes no mention of an announcement made local Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne last week that an independent review will be carried out after the event, as the government considers changing its aquaculture regulations.
Byrne said that the review will be conducted by Memorial University of Newfoundland's Marine Institute and that his department is also changing regulations under the Aquaculture Act to compel aquaculture companies to disclose information publicly when a major mortality occurs.
Mowi Canada holds in total 59 licenses on the east coast of Canada of which 47 are in Newfoundland and 12 in New Brunswick.
