Salmonopoly

Marine Harvest is the largest aqua-farming concern in the world. Turning out more than 100 million farmed salmon per year, it supplies consumers in Europe, the USA and Japan. But at what price? This global empire is run by John Fredriksen, a self-made man and one of the richest on Earth. In his Norwegian home, he is called the “Big Wolf”; he calls himself “green”, “enduring” and “transparent”. But reality contradicts the corporate philosophy, particularly in Chile where Marine Harvest is by far the largest producer with some 70 fish farms. Chile, with its barely-there environmental legislation, is a paradise for investors. Everything that is forbidden to salmon producers in Europe is allowed in Chile, with the result that after 18 months of rearing, the salmon are a chemically loaded product. In April 2008, in order to improve the intensive large-scale farming image, Marine Harvest entered into a partnership with the WWF. For a donation of € 100,000 per year, Marine Harvest may use the WWF’s panda logo to advertise its industrially produced farmed salmon. Utterly suspect ecologically, but very successful economically: after a collapse during the financial crisis, the company’s shares rose by 270% in the summer of 2009 alone. John Fredriksen is the main protagonist in this eco-thriller set in the murky world of a global foodstuff giant.


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Source to this post - United Docs