Woolies refuses to give up salmon farming – Australian Associated Press

Woolworths will continue to sell farmed salmon that allegedly threatens the existence of the rare fish after shareholders voted down a resolution to end the practice.

Several protesters outside the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday held signs accusing Woolworth of killing the Mogi ray, a prehistoric stingray estimated to number between 40 and 120 in the wild.

Inside, Chairman Scott Perkins assured shareholders that the board was taking the matter very seriously.

“Responsible seafood sourcing is important to our business and, underpinned by our seafood sourcing policy, our policy requires all own brand seafood sold in Australia to be third party certified or independently verified as environmentally responsible,” he said.

The remaining wild rays are found exclusively in Macquarie Harbor in Tasmania, where salmon farming is associated with a problematic reduction in available oxygen.

Mr Perkins said Woolworths was “not perfect” but rejected allegations it misled customers by inflating prices on products and then lowering them and calling it a discount.

The ACCC has taken legal action against Woolworths and Coles over the alleged tactics.

“We were disappointed by the ACCC’s announcement to commence proceedings,” Mr Perkins said.

“And while we disagree with their assessment that the Price Cut program is misleading, we are committed to working with them constructively.”

Mr Perkins said no decision would be made about changing salmon suppliers until a review of Maquarie Harbor aquaculture was completed after the federal election.

Fisheries Neighbors campaigner Jess Coughlan said scientists agreed the consequences would be “catastrophic” unless urgent action was taken.

But there was conflicting data on stingray abundance and oxygenation, and captive breeding initiatives showed promise, Mr Perkins said.

“From the advice we’re getting, it’s not a case of the science being as black and white as you characterize it,” he said.

Mr Perkins said the issues surrounding salmon farming were complex and the livelihoods of people involved in the industry also needed to be considered.

Less than five percent of shareholders supported the proposal to stop selling farmed salmon.

Alistair Allan, a marine campaigner at the Bob Brown Foundation, said Woolworths lied to consumers that salmon farmed in Tasmania was “responsibly sourced”.

“If you, as a consumer, do not want to participate in extinction, you should refuse to purchase any Tasmanian salmon,” he implored consumers.

Shareholders also questioned Woolworths’ commitment to eliminating deforestation in its supply chain.

Fresh beef was a big issue in this regard, Mr Perkins said, and the company would work closely with industry bodies to agree on a definition of what deforestation was.

Nathaniel Pelle, business and nature campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, said political opposition from the beef industry was hampering attempts to ban deforestation for beef pastures.

He praised Woolworths for showing true leadership in upgrading the status of other nature-related risks, such as biodiversity loss and deforestation, to the status of climate risks.

But they need to do a better job of keeping track of where their food comes from so they don’t end up with another Moji ray situation in their supply chain, Mr Pelle said.

“It’s really telling that we can trace the origin of palm oil in Indonesia, but we can’t trace the origin of beef in Australia,” he told AAP.

After receiving the first pushback against the remuneration report last year, more than 95 percent of shareholders voted to increase executive pay, ensuring the board avoided a spill on the decision.

Woolworths’ share price fell 2.6 per cent to $30 just before the ASX market closed.