OREANDA-NEWS. August 07, 2013. Overumans Fisk AB, the fully owned subsidiary of AS Premia Foods filed a claim of compensation of damage and loss of profit against the Swedish Board of Agriculture (in Swedish: Jordbruksverket, JBV) in connection with the on-going administrative proceedings initiated against Overumans Fisk AB in May 2012 resulting in the destruction of 17 tons of fish fingerlings.

The total amount of damage and loss of profit claimed to be compensated is up to approximately SEK 25,486,867.70 (approximately 3 million euro).

As has been reported by AS Premia Foods in its quarterly reports (and the annual report of 2012), in May 2012, JBV initiated proceedings in respect of fish fingerlings farms operated by Overumans Fisk AB in Holleforsen and Blatjarn, Sweden. In the course of the proceedings, JBV discovered a higher than normal mortality of the fish fingerlings and started to investigate the reasons thereof. JBV has been running several tests and analysis to determine the exact reasons for such higher than normal mortality of the fish fingerlings; however, has failed to come to a definite conclusion. JBV has detected an unknown pathogen called “Agent x” allegedly causing the higher than normal mortality of the fish fingerlings. As at today, the nature and origin of “Agent x” is still unclear but JBV has discovered the existence thereof in other fish farms in Sweden as well and therefore it cannot be ruled out that “Agent x” has existed in the Swedish waters for some time.

The milestones of the proceedings have been the following:

(i)             On 10 April 2012, JBV decided on restrictions regarding the operations of Overumans Fisk AB in Holleforsen and Blatjarn. The restrictions meant inter alia that no fish could be moved to or from the fish farming facilities without permission of the relevant authorities. On 19 April 2012, JBV decided to expand the scope of the restrictions.

(ii)            On 21 May 2012, JBV decided that all triploid fish held in Blatjarn and Holleforsen, originating from the USA, must be destroyed.

(iii)           On 30 July 2012, JBV decided that all rainbow trout from the first and second hatching in 2012 held at the fish farms operated by Overumans Fisk AB in Blatjarn and Holleforsen must be destroyed. 

(iv)          On 26 March 2013, JBV decided to establish a control area in the river Indalsalven, including the fish farms operated by Overumans Fisk AB. Under this decision, Overumans Fisk AB was prohibited to move fish from the control area, unless it had been tested in accordance with instructions from JBV.

(v)           On 4 and 5 July 2013, JBV decided to remove all restrictions referred to above and Overumans Fisk AB is entitled to continue its business operations without the restrictions.

As from the very beginning of initiating the proceedings as described above, Overumans Fisk AB has been co-operating with the Swedish authorities in complying with all the decisions (including destroying the fish) and assisting the Swedish authorities in testing and analysing the fish in order to establish the nature and potential spread of the “Agent x”. In order to ensure protection of its rights, Overumans Fisk AB appealed the decisions of JBV on destruction of the fish fingerlings and establishing the restrictions as referred to above in the Administrative Court in Jonkoping. Simultaneously with filing the appeals to the court, Overumans Fisk AB applied for the suspension of the court proceedings until the final results of the tests and analysis carried out by the Swedish authorities became available.

Throughout the proceedings, Overumans Fisk AB has been negotiating with the Swedish authorities in order to reach a compromise and avoid court proceedings. The negotiations have resulted in the claim of compensation of damage and loss of profit against JBV as submitted by Overumans Fisk AB on 31 July 2013. The ground for claiming the compensation is the fact that the measures applied in respect of the fish farms operated by Overumans Fisk AB have been more severe if compared to the other fish farms in the same region and therefore disproportional. Due to the extraordinary nature of these proceedings, it is difficult to estimate the final result of the compensation claim and the exact time of adopting relevant decision of JBV.