Government says Mowi—the parent company of Northern Harvest—has apologized to the province for the die-off of about 2.6-million salmon in Fortune Bay.
All policies surrounding the industry have been updated, including ten new policies which were added to a provincial Aquaculture Policy Manual.
Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne says the new policies were in the process of being amended before the incident at Northern Harvest’s Fortune Bay site.
The main addition to the policies is a public reporting policy—something Northern Harvest did not do, when the incident occurred over the summer. While the provincial government was initially notified of the incident on September 3, it wasn’t until 20 days later that Northern Harvest issued a public statement.
Minister Gerry Byrne says MOWI apologized to the provincial government for the massive die off of salmon at Northern Harvest Sea Farms in Fortune Bay over the summer. @VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/YkZjWbgK58
— Victoria Battcock (@VicBattcockVOCM) November 8, 2019
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Minister Byrne shared details on the meeting, as well as information on regulations governing the aquaculture industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Byrne says Mowi offered an apology for not being transparent with the public immediately following the massive die-off.
He says Mowie provided a written commitment regarding their path forward—to handle situations and report incidents at their local facilities openly.
