Two North American companies with ties to embattled fishing group Samherji say the scandal involving the Icelandic seafood giant is having no impact on their operations.

US-based seafood supplier Slade Gorton and Canada-based Cooke Seafood both are connected to Samherji, which is under investigation for allegedly using tax havens and bank accounts at Norway's largest bank, DNB, to hide proceeds from illegally obtained fishing quotas in Namibia.

Samherji and Cooke own a “significant” stake in Newfound Resources Ltd. (NRL), which harvests shrimp off the Atlantic coast, and in 2016, Samherji acquired a stake in Slade Gorton.

“The allegations have no bearing on our Newfound Resources Ltd. investment, as NRL is a separate operation and located in a Canadian jurisdiction," Cooke Spokesperson Joel Richardson told IntraFish Friday.

Kim Gorton, CEO of Slade Gorton, said her company has no knowledge of or involvement in the Samherji case.

“It has no impact on our business,” she told IntraFish on Friday.

Slade Gorton imports product from Samherji’s Icelandic operations but does not import product from its Namibian operations, she said.

Widening scandal

The Samherji scandal is unfolding at a rapid pace since breaking earlier this week. Thorsteinn Mar Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji, was forced to step aside from his position Thursday while internal investigations over the company's alleged wrongdoings in Namibia are underway.

In addition, Namibia's fisheries and justice ministers have resigned over their alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.

The resignations come after WikiLeaks published more than over 30,000 documents (the first of two batches) it said it obtained from a whistleblower within Samherji.

The cash-for-quotas scandal prompted Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir to call for swift action by regulators to dig into the allegations that the company dealt out bribes in exchange for access to Namibian harvesting rights.

Future uncertain

Given the broad ranging scope of this scandal, it remains unclear how regulators might punish Samherji if it is found guilty. And just how any future action could affect Slade Gorton, Cooke or any other companies with ties to Samherji remains unknown.

In addition to Slade Gorton and Cooke, other companies with ties to Samherji include: Framherji; Deutsche Fishfang Union GmbH (DFFU); Cuxhavener Reederei; Icefresh GmbH; Atlantex; Arctic Navigations; Ice Fresh Seafood UK; Onward; Seagold and UK Fisheries.

Finance

Slade Gorton, Cooke distance themselves from Samherji scandal