For Immediate Release
May 3, 2006

Contacts:
Don Staniford, in Oslo, 011 44 7769 712 184
Bart Naylor, in Oslo, 202-257-4065
Kymberly Escobar, in Washington, D.C., 202-887-8814

Cermaq Board Agrees to Review Pure Salmon Reform Plan

Current farmed salmon practices cited as harmful for health and environment

OSLO, Norway — At its annual general meeting today, shareholders of Cermaq, among the top three farmed salmon producers globally, directed the board to review a Pure Salmon Campaign resolution that aims to resolve environmental problems associated with salmon farming.

"We are pleased that Cermaq's board has pledged to take this proposal seriously," said Don Staniford, Pure Salmon Campaign's European Organizer. "Our resolution asked Cermaq to establish the highest standards for farming salmon, and shareholders agreed unanimously."

The motion, made by Cermaq Chairman Sigbjorn Johnsen, was approved without objection by the shareholders at today's meeting. In Cermaq's 2005 annual general report, Chairman Johnsen said, "we will protect the environment in terms of discharges and in concern to wild salmon. We will make fish feed from raw materials produced in a sustainable manner. We agree with all this — indeed we are a prime mover for achieving these goals."

At the meeting, Don Staniford, applauded the chairman's words and said, "The Pure Salmon Campaign invites the board to work with us, using the resolution as a guide to fulfill its pledge to shareholders."

The meeting included a representative from the state of Norway which holds 43% of Cermaq stock. This resolution was one of the first environmental shareholder resolutions to go before a Norwegian corporation. The Pure Salmon Campaign will also be presenting an identical shareholder resolution — seeking to reform farmed salmon practices by switching to closed containment — at the annual general meetings of Fjord on May 4 and PanFish May 30.

Citing numerous peer-reviewed studies and news accounts, the resolution asks the companies to "undertake the necessary steps to adopt salmon production techniques so that disease transfer, waste pollution, and escapes are eliminated, and to make sure that fish feed is sources solely from sustainable fisheries."

Closed containment systems have an impermeable barrier that prevents the transmission of diseases and parasites, which subsequently reduces the impact on wild fish and the need for chemical and antibiotic treatment on the farms, as well as eliminates escapes and discharges of wastes into the oceans.

Closed containment technology is being used in Canada, the United States and Tasmania by industry leaders such as, AgriMarine, Eco-Farm, Mariculture Systems and Future Sea Technologies.

"It makes long term economic sense to establish sustainable operations," said Don Staniford, Pure Salmon Campaign's European Organizer. "Closed containment systems are the only way the salmon industry can move forward in an environmentally and economically sustainable way."

For a copy of the resolution, click here.

The Pure Salmon Campaign is a global project of the National Environmental Trust. It has partners in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Chile all working to improve the way salmon is produced.