Woolworths will continue to sell farmed salmon that allegedly threatens the existence of a rare fish after shareholders voted down a resolution to stop the practice.
A handful of protesters outside the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday held signs accusing Woolworths of killing the Maugean skate, a prehistoric ray estimated to number between 40 to 120 individuals in the wild.
Inside, chairman Scott Perkins assured shareholders the board took the issue very seriously.
“Responsible sourcing of seafood is important to our business, and underpinned by our seafood sourcing policy, our policy requires all own-branded seafood sold in Australia to be third party certified or independently verified as ecologically responsible,” he said.
The remaining wild skates live exclusively in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, where salmon farming has been linked to problematic drops in available oxygen.
Mr Perkins said Woolworths “is not perfect” but rejected allegations it misled customers by inflating prices on products before lowering them and calling it a discount.
The ACCC has launched legal action against Woolworths and Coles over the alleged tactics.
“We were disappointed with the ACCC’s announcement to commence proceedings,” Mr Perkins said.
“And while we disagree with their assessment that the ‘Prices Dropped’ program was misleading, we are committed to working constructively with them.”
Mr Perkins said no decision would be taken on changing its salmon supplier until a review into Maquarie Harbour aquaculture is completed after the federal election.
Neighbours of Fish Farming campaigner Jess Coughlan said the clear consensus of scientists was that there would be “catastrophic” consequences unless urgent action is taken.
But there was conflicting evidence about the numbers of skates and oxygenation and captive breeding initiatives were showing promise, Mr Perkins said.
“It simply isn’t the case, according to the advice we’re getting, that the science is as black and white as you characterise it,” he said
The issues around salmon farming were complex and the livelihoods of people involved in the industry needed to be taken into account as well, Mr Perkins said.
Less than five per cent of shareholders supported a motion to cease selling farmed salmon.
Alistair Allan, a marine campaigner at the Bob Brown Foundation, said Woolworths was lying to consumers about Tasmanian farmed salmon being “responsibly sourced”.
“If you as a shopper don’t want to partake in an extinction, you must refuse to buy any Tasmanian salmon,” he implored consumers.
Shareholders also questioned Woolworths’ commitment to stamping out deforestation in its supply chain.
The big challenge in that respect was fresh beef, and the company would work closely with industry bodies to agree on a definition of what deforestation is, Mr Perkins said.
Nathaniel Pelle, business and nature campaigner at the Australian Conservation Foundation, said political opposition from the meat industry was stymieing attempts to ban deforestation for beef pasture land.
He commended Woolworths for showing genuine leadership in elevating other nature-related risks, like biodiversity loss and deforestation, to the status of climate risks.
But they need to better track where their food comes from so they don’t end up with another Maugean skate situation in their supply chain, Mr Pelle said.
“It’s really telling that we can track where palm oil comes from in Indonesia but we can’t trace beef in Australia,” he told AAP.
After receiving a first strike against its remuneration report last year, more than 95 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of executive pay, ensuring the board avoided a spill resolution.
Woolworths’ share price was down 2.6 per cent to $30 shortly before market close on the ASX.
