Huon Aquaculture says fish loss exaggerated by the Greens

HUON Aquaculture says it will not report a fish loss to the Australian Securities Exchange because the numbers have been grossly exaggerated by the Greens.

HUON Aquaculture says it will not report a fish loss to the Australian Securities Exchange because the numbers have been grossly exaggerated by the Greens.

“There is no requirement to report this to the ASX because the fish escape purported by the Greens is nothing like the truth,” chief executive officer Peter Bender said.

“We will not be providing any further commentary on false claims.”

Greens Environment spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff told parliament the Greens believed the loss could have been as high as 600,000 fish.

MORE: FISHERS REJOICE AS WILD WEATHER SPAWNS SALMON FRENZY

Rosalie Woodruff . Picture: RICHARD JUPE

Under ASX listing rules a company is required to continuously disclose information to the market if it is believed it could have a material effect on the share price.

Huon’s shares rose three cents to close at $4.79 yesterday.

Mr Bender said the Greens were trying to “whip up a media frenzy for their own political gain”.

Huon Aquaculture's Frances and Peter Bender. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Huon Aquaculture has reported the loss of “some fish” to the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.

A DPIPWE spokeswoman said there was minimal disease risk associated with the escape. “While POMV is a disease that can be found in farmed salmon, it is an endemic disease in pilchards and is already present in the wild,” she said.

“Research undertaken by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Sciences also indicates escapee salmon have low survivorship in the wild and so will have no long term impact on the ecosystem.

The Department did not respond to a query about the quantum of the fish loss.

A salmon farm pen washed up in Taroona during the recent wild weather. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Huon’s latest half-year report reveals that the lost Atlantic salmon would be worth nearly $14 each if they were up to the company average.

The average weight of fish increased from 4.84kg to 5.29kg over the past year because of good growing conditions and improved fish diets.

The report also reveals that the fish sell for an average of $2.64 a kilogram.

Huon has a total biomass of $188 million.

Huon said that it had developed mooring systems specifically designed so that fortress pens could be safely moored in high energy sites like Storm Bay.

“Custom designed fortress pens have been introduced across all our lease sites reducing mortality rates from seal incursions to minimal levels and improving worker safety particularly in high energy offshore sites,” the report says.

Under ASX listing rules companies could be obliged to disclose information to prevent or correct a false market.

Exceptions to listing rules include:

*The information comprises matters of supposition or is insufficiently definite to warrant disclosure.

*The information is a trade secret.

*It would be a breach of the law to disclose the information.