Marine Harvest

Marine Harvest ASA, Pan Fish prior to February 6, 2007, is a Norwegian seafood company with operations in a number of countries around the world. The company's primary interest is the production, processing and sale of farmed salmon, the operations of which are focused on Norway, Scotland, Canada, the Faroe Islands, Ireland and Chile. The group has a share of between 25 and 30% of the global salmon and trout market, making it the world's largest company in the sector. Marine Harvest also owns a 'value added processing' unit, which prepares and distributes a range of seafood products, and a number of smaller divisions.

The company assumed its current form as a result of massive expansion in 2006, when Pan Fish ASA conducted an effective three-way merger with Marine Harvest N.V. and Fjord Seafood. The group is headquartered in Bergen and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange where it is a constituent of the benchmark OBX Index.

History

Constituent companies

Marine Harvest

Marine

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology. In scientific contexts, the term almost always refers exclusively to saltwater environments, although in other contexts (e.g., engineering) it may refer to any (usually navigable) body of water.

Marine or marines may also refer to:

Military / seafarers

Harvest

Harvesting is the act or process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-intensive activity of the growing season. On large mechanized farms, harvesting utilizes the most expensive and sophisticated farm machinery, such as the combine harvester. The term "harvesting" in general usage may include immediate postharvest handling, including cleaning, sorting, packing, and cooling.

The completion of harvesting marks the end of the growing season, or the growing cycle for a particular crop, and the social importance of this event makes it the focus of seasonal celebrations such as harvest festivals, found in many religions.

Etymology

"Harvest", a noun, came from the Old English word hærfest, meaning "autumn" (the season), "harvest-time", or "August". (It continues to mean "autumn" in British dialect, and "season of gathering crops" generally.) "The harvest" came to also mean the activity of reaping, gathering, and storing grain and other grown products during the autumn, and also the grain and other grown products themselves. "Harvest" was also verbified: "To harvest" means to reap, gather, and store the harvest (or the crop). People who harvest and equipment that harvests are harvesters; while they do it, they are harvesting.