This is revealed in a major complaint in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. It has been pending with the case handlers for over two years. The final verdict from the supervisory authority is clear. Lerøy has not only broken the Animal Welfare Act. Trampled is gross. And it’s all about thermal deworming. Overdriving The Norwegian Food Safety Authority therefore believes that Lerøy broke the law in order to increase profits. The call from the professionals was to slaughter the fish to end the suffering caused by salmon lice. But then the income would decrease. Lerøy instead chose to run over the fish health personnel. The salmon were treated with hot water and standing in the cages to gain slaughter weight. “You have had a financial advantage by breaking the Animal Welfare Act, as every single treatment meant that the fish were closer to reaching slaughter-ready size.” This is what the Norwegian Food Safety Authority wrote in the final decision that was made this summer. High risk Skorpo in Hardanger. Salmon giant Lerøy has several plants in this area. Photo: Torje Bjellaas / news The case started in January 2022. Then there was high lice pressure at Lerøy’s plant Skorpo in Hardanger. So high that the management wanted to carry out thermal de-worming. This means that the salmon is run through warm water so that the lice can escape. The treatment is considered burdensome for the salmon. The well boat “Seihav” was hired to do the job. But the Lerøy rental got the red light from those who are supposed to ensure good animal welfare. The fish health personnel said no. “The treatments were advised against by the animal health personnel who assessed the risk as high”. This is revealed in the documents in the case that news has access to. Mass death Examples of how farmed salmon are damaged by lice. The photos are not from Lerøy’s facility “Skorpo”, but taken in the same area. Photo: Trygve Poppe But the production management at Lerøy decided that it was he who was responsible for the decision, not the professionals. Both in January and at the end of April 2022, the management defied calls to drop the deworming. Even if she had no veterinary medical expertise. “The production management had no better professional qualifications to assess the animal welfare risks of the treatments than the animal health personnel, but chose to deviate from the animal health personnel’s advice.” As a result of the treatments, at least 23,620 fish died. A total of 405,655 salmon were treated in January and April. Lerøy Sjøtroll owns Skorpo. Daily manager Morten Fjæreide says that at the time they disagreed with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s understanding of the regulations. This has now changed. Morten Fjæreide is the day-to-day manager of Lerøy Sjøtroll, which owns the breeding facility Skorpo Photo: Private/LinkedIn – These are events we would rather be ahead of. No one is excited about fish dying, he says. See more comments from the company at the bottom of the case. Particularly vulnerable Lerøy was originally fined NOK 531,995 for breaching the Animal Welfare Act. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority writes: “We believe that the violations were gross in light of the fact that the treatments would cause great stress for the fish, which were weak at the time of the treatment and thus particularly vulnerable.” The inspectorate believes that it is aggravating that the treatment was carried out despite the advice of professionals. And shows that the second treatment was carried out despite the very high mortality rate after the first round. The production management should have understood the risk and can therefore be blamed. The Lerøy boss had a good year in 2023. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Henning Beltestad is CEO of Lerøy Seafood Group. The turnover in the company reached new records in 2023. It was NOK 30.9 billion. Operating profit still at 3.3 billion. More seriously, despite good finances, Lerøy did not accept the fee. Grunde Bruland, one of the leading seafood lawyers in the country, was seen on the case. Which was complained about and sent to the Complaints Division. This is the highest body at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. First in Grunde Bruland in the law firm Law, considered one of the leading salmon lawyers in Norway. Photo: Law.no In the summer, the case was settled. Lerøy was not supported. On the contrary. “In this case, there was a risk assessment which was checked by the production management. We believe that such a review, with a financial motive behind the decision, is more serious than failure to obtain a risk assessment.” Further in the decision: “The appeals unit assumes that the profit has far exceeded NOK 531,995.” “We believe that the amount should have been set higher in this case.” “In summary, there are two serious incidents (..)” Christine Pettersen in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority points out that financial prudence should not come at the expense of the fish’s health and welfare. Photo: Private Norwegian Food Safety Authority, region South and West process the original complaint. Senior inspector and veterinarian Christine Pettersen believes the decision is fundamentally important: – A serious matter. This is an important decision to make clear the central role of fish health personnel in assessments related to health and welfare when processing fish. Good dialogue Morten Fjæreide claims that Lerøy takes fish welfare very seriously. He wrote this to news: “The incidents they refer to are two treatments that were carried out in different cages with different groups of fish, so it is not a question of treating the same fish. When the incidents occurred, our interpretation of the regulations was that it was prudent to carry out de-lice after an overall assessment of the situation and fish health. In the wake of the incidents, responsibilities between animal keepers and fish health personnel have been more clearly defined. No treatments against lice in Lerøy are started today without fish health personnel finding it safe. We have a good dialogue with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, and now we have a common understanding of the regulations when it comes to the treatment of fish.” news has twice asked Lerøy to comment on the claim that profit came before animal welfare in this case. The company has not responded to this. Hello! We are currently working a lot on matters concerning the farming industry. Do you have tips for us, or know something about the industry that you think we should know or check out? Feel free to send us an email! Alternatively, you can call us on 95.22.30.63. You can use the same number on the encrypted Signal app. Published 12.08.2024, at 08.59
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Meiner Lerøy puts profit before animal welfare – news Dokumentar
