The world’s top salmon farmers say they’ll resist the temptation to embark on the kind of growth that led to disease and cutbacks last decade and are content to reap a period of high prices fueled by rising demand.
Norway’s Marine Harvest ASA (MHG) and Cermaq ASA (CEQ), the largest farmed salmon producers, are operating near peak capacity and expect supply to trail growing global demand from middle-income earners seeking healthier diets. Continued outbreaks of sea lice that lead to other illnesses in the fish make governments reluctant to issue new farming licenses.
“It’s smart to find solutions to these problems first, then grow the industry,” Marine Harvest Chief Executive Officer Alf Helge Aarskog said in an interview from southern Chile where company and government officials met last week. “If it grows too fast, biology comes back to haunt you.”
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