Believe what they say not what they do. Or believe what they do not what they say? Hypocrisy, greed and control are traits that characterize how John Fredriksen built his company Marine Harvest into what is today, MOWI - world dominance of salmon farming was his goal. Fredriksen's was considered the first of the Big Fish companies of industrial scale salmon farming. The Norwegian born owner of MOWI proved there is no wild species too precious or tax avoidance strategy too extreme to spoil his plans for domination, he relinquished his Norwegian citizenship for that of Cyprus so he could pay lower taxes on his billions.
Today we're sharing another preview of the new book Salmon Wars, this section explains how today's 'Big Fish', the industrial salmon farming industry came to be. How Fredriksen's aggressive consolidation moves that prioritized profit over wild salmon, spawned other big fish wannabes to compete. Soon the industry went from twenty or so medium size companies producing most of the world's farmed Atlantic salmon to a few multi-national giant corporations producing a global supply scaled 'to feed the world'.
Stay tuned for our next preview from the book, which will introduce you to the biggest big fish wannabe of them all, Glenn Cooke.
"I am worried about the future of wild salmon. Fish farming should not be allowed in fjords where wild salmon are present in local rivers. What is happening here in fjords is not good." - John Fredriksen (2007), Owner of MOWI.
"As Fredriksen acquired more companies, he changed the industry forever, accelerating consolidation, paving the way for a small number of multi-national companies to control salmon farming and, ultimately, creating greater environmental problems."
"But the big companies bought up the little operations and turned them into industrial-scale feedlots. Fredriksen did not start the trend, but he accelerated the mutation of a noble fish into a domesticated commodity no different from the oil carried by his fleet of tankers."
"The result of consolidation is a dystopian vision. Like factory farms invented in the 1960s for beef, chickens, and pigs, todays salmon farms are designed to raise fish quickly, cheaply, and with minimal capital investment."
To be continued.
End of Excepts.
A special thank you to Catherine and Doug for allowing us to share this preview of their book with you.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS OF THE BOOK:
"Frantz spent 37 years as a newspaper editor and reporter, sharing a Pulitzer Prize at The New York Times and serving as managing editor of the Los Angeles Times. After leaving journalism, he was chief investigator for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Assistant Secretary of State in the Obama administration, and Deputy Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Collins was a reporter and prize-winning foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and contributed to The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Upon leaving her newspaper career, she became a private investigator specializing in international financial fraud and corruption.
They began work on Salmon Wars in January 2020 after hearing about the environmental dangers of salmon farming at a public meeting near their home in Nova Scotia."
Read more about the authors here.
This new book was released on July 12th to many impressive reviews. PLB will be hosting a presentation and book signing event with the authors in Liverpool this September so stay tuned for more details. We'll also be sharing details of this same event being held at other locations around Nova Scotia.
Below is a link for where to buy the book and search for local shops in NS that carry it, including in LaHave, Lunenburg, Annapolis Royal, and Halifax. Also avail online at Chapters and Amazon. (Note: Amazon has a free kindle reader app usable on any tablet if you prefer to buy a digital copy but don't have a kindle.)
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