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NEWS which hindered its North Island farming operations. King Reef, Sealord's barramundi farming operation in North Queensland, was directly hit by Cyclone Yasi and farming operations performed below expectations. Sealord's net profi t after tax rose 13 percent to $20.6 million. The chief executive, Graham Stuart, called the numbers "reasonably solid". "Revenue for the reporting period was $573.5 million, an increase from $530.8 million for the previous year. Seasonally adjusted debt fell by $15 million and a dividend of $16 million was paid to owners, the company said. QCC NZ King Salmon Scholarship recipient Brook Lines receives his award from NZ King Salmon chief executive Grant Rosewarne TEEN WINS NEW STUDY AWARD Brook Lines, aged 16, is the inaugural winner of the Queen Charlotte College Aquaculture Academy New Zealand King Salmon Scholarship. The scholarship, worth $11,500 over two years, will fund Brook's tuition and course fees so he can complete a Diploma in Aquaculture at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. The scholarship is awarded to a year 12 or 13 Aquaculture Academy student at QCC selected by college staff and approved by the principal, Tom Parsons. The student must have shown enthusiasm and diligence during the school year, as well as attitude and commitment to a career in aquaculture or marine science. The assistant principal of Queen Charlotte College, Betty Whyte, says the college was looking for someone who would be best served by the support from New Zealand King Salmon. "Brook was thinking about going to work, but with this scholarship he has an amazing opportunity to continue his aquaculture education. And that is the best thing for him at this stage in his life." He had previously won a scholarship to South Australia, where he spent two weeks visiting tuna, mussel, kingfi sh and oyster farms, which confi rmed his aquaculture ambitions. He had a good academic record with NCEA level two and was very familiar with the industry, Whyte said. "That was important to us, because we wanted to ensure the scholarship recipient knew what he was in for and had a commitment to the subject. He has also had work experience on mussel boats." The chief executive of New Zealand 4 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE ■ King Salmon, Grant Rosewarne, said the company was delighted Brook was the inaugural scholarship recipient. "We are very much part of the community in Marlborough. We are always keen to encourage young people from the region to consider aquaculture as a career and that was our motivation behind setting up the scholarship," Rosewarne said. "We believe this scholarship enhances Brook's employment opportunities. We are looking forward to closely following his progress welcoming him to the industry on his graduation." PACIFICA SALMON SOLD Skeggs Group says it has sold its subsidiary, Pacifi ca Salmon Limited, for A$950,000 to New Zealand King Salmon Co Limited. It has also sold its Bluff oyster and salmon holdings to Malaysian interests for almost $1 million. The sales are part of Skeggs' strategy to continue to invest strongly in its expanding southern tourism operations. It had earlier sold most of its aquaculture assets to Sanford Limited in November 2010 for A$85 million. Pacifi ca Salmon has a salmon hatchery on 5.65ha of freehold land at Waiau, North Canterbury. NZ King Salmon said it considers the acquisition a good strategic fi t with its existing activities and plans future increases in production. SEALORD PROFITS CLIMB Sealord Group Limited's holding company Kura said its annual results, released on December 21, showed its New Zealand Green Shell mussel business benefi ted from a much-needed fi rming in market prices. But this advantage was offset by a weak United States dollar and "a plague of barnacles", MARCH/APRIL 2012 NEW ZEALAND RECOVERS FROM VIRUS OUTBREAK New Zealand oyster producers say they have benefi ted from a 25 percent rise in international prices in the past year. The rise was due to a number of factors, including the oyster herpes virus OsHV- 1. In November and December 2010, New Zealand found cases of OsHV-1 on a number of oyster units in the North Island. Adam Hicks from Aquaculture New Zealand said this had resulted in severe production losses in 2011. It is estimated half the country's juvenile crops were wiped out. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries estimated the fi nancial loss to be $30 million, although Hicks said he believed it was too soon to put a value on the losses occurred. He said the outbreak was a temporary setback. However, the industry had experienced minimal losses this season and was confi dent of continuing to grow, Hicks said. No further outbreaks have been reported since 2010. The oyster industry had taken steps to deal with any future threat by creating a selective breeding programme to develop broodstock that were resilient to the disease. He said advances in breeding and rearing techniques and grow-out programmes in place would result in improved farming systems, better management and a higher quality product to market, while maintaining New Zealand's reputation for the highest standard of food safety and quality. CANADIAN SALMON PROBED FOR DISEASES The Canadian Food Inspection Agency plans to test nearly 8000 wild and farmed salmon over two years to fi nd out if three potentially deadly fi sh diseases are present in British Columbia waters. The investigation is aimed at detecting any signs on the West Coast of infectious salmon anaemia, infectious pancreatic necrosis or infectious haematopoietic necrosis. "All three diseases are highly contagious