Marine Harvest down on documentary, rival issue

OSLO, June 29 (Reuters) - Shares in Norwegian salmon producer Marine Harvest Group fell sharply to a 2010 low after a French TV documentary criticised the use of a pesticide in salmon feed and as investors geared up for a rival's listing.

Marine Harvest shares were down 5.1 percent to 4.45 crowns by 1300 GMT, having earlier reached a low of 4.26 crowns, with traders pointing to media reports about the French documentary and the listing of salmon processing firm Morpol on the Oslo bourse on Wednesday.

Marine Harvest's smaller peers Cermaq and Salmar were down 2.3 and 2.3 percent, respectively. The Oslo bourse's benchmark index was down 3.2 percent.

The documentary on public television network France 3 on Monday criticised the Norwegian salmon industry for using the pesticide diflubenzuron in feed to rid farmed salmon of infectious sea lice, saying it is dangerous for the environment and toxic for the fish.

Norway's Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen said on Monday the chemical was safe for humans and fish and approved for use in fish farming both in Norway and the European Union.

'Diflubenzuron is not dangerous to the salmon, but to salmon lice,' Berg-Hansen told Reuters. 'It's been approved for use on fish both in Norway and the EU,' she said, specifying that it was a means of last resort to rid the fish of lice.

Marine Harvest declined to comment on the TV report or on whether it used diflubenzuron, referring all questions to the Norwegian fisheries ministry.



'VETERINARY MEDICINE'

The French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire contacted Fisheries Minister Berg-Hansen as soon as he was made aware of the report, the French ministry said.

'In response, Lisbeth Berg-Hansen ... said that Norwegian farmed salmon producers use a veterinary medicine authorised by national authorities, issued after a scientific evaluation that looked at all safety issues,' the French ministry said in a statement.

The sea lice parasite is a major problem for fish farmers because the salmon are so close together in giant nets off the coast. The parasite kills the salmon and has caused millions of dollars of losses for the industry, especially in Chile.

Analysts also said Morpol's share issue was drawing liquidity from investors in the sector and some played down the French TV report.

'There is no doubt that the French market is the biggest market for (Norwegian) salmon, and an incredibly important market for Norway, but I simply do not think this affects the share price all that much,' DnB NOR Markets analyst Klaus Hatlebrekke says.

Morpol is being listed on Oslo Bourse on Wednesday, having issued 66 million shares at 22 crowns per share on Monday -- in the bottom of a share price interval it had announced earlier.

(Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg and Terje Solsvik; Writing by Richard Solem and Gwladys Fouche; editing by Karen Foster) Keywords: MARINEHARVEST/SHARES ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.