Several pallets of Mowi-reared salmon graded as “production fish” (not for export) have been sold on internationally without the company’s permission.
Salmon that had been graded as “production fish” by Mowi have been illegally resold to a customer in Europe.
This revelation came to light in a report filed by the company with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, a document that SalmonBusiness has gained access to.
On February 27, Mowi was alerted to the situation when it received photographic evidence from a European customer, showcasing boxes of the said production fish. Upon further investigation, tracing the label origins, Mowi discovered that these boxes were supplied by Sekkingstad, and were initially delivered to Skaganeset on Sotra on February 23.
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Andreas Søraa, Director at Mowi Markets, disclosed, “Our investigation revealed that Sekkingstad, contrary to our agreement, resold several pallets of production fish from order 0013052482 to Salmonpoint.”
Salmonpoint is a seafood company located in Bergen and Tønsberg, Norway.
According to the contract with Mowi, Sekkingstad was obliged to either correct such fish domestically or under specific lease production contracts arranged by the customer.
The full story of how these fish ended up with a European client remains unclear, and Mowi has initiated a thorough inquiry into the matter. “The current understanding is that Sekkingstad has forwarded these production fish to Salmonpoint, who subsequently resold them,” Søraa added.
Søraa also referred to a 16 February application for a temporary exemption from the Regulation on the Quality of Fish and Fishery Products. He expressed significant concern over the potential scale of illegal exports of production fish, an issue posing serious implications for the industry’s reputation and regulatory compliance.
Mowi, facing an industry-wide issue of insufficient processing capacity, now finds itself at the center of a complex situation that underscores the challenges in maintaining quality standards and contractual integrity within the seafood supply chain.
A spokesperson for Mowi said the company had nothing to add to what was contained in the written complaint when contacted by SalmonBusiness.
