Five people have been charged after up to 250 tonnes of salmon, potentially worth $2.1 million, were stolen from a fish processing plant run by Huon Aquaculture over the last six months.

The issue was identified after a Huon executive discovered the Ingleburn plant had seen a reduction in output amounting to about 600 kilograms per day in the six months leading up to December, according to the ABC.

The business alerted NSW police, which have charged two women and three men with stealing property and larceny after they graded the fish as ‘waste’, and then removed them from the plant in order to sell or trade for profit.

“The employees have been terminated, or stood down, pending the outcome of the police investigation and ongoing court proceedings,” Huon said in a statement to shareholders.

“Whilst sales for the period ending 31 December 2020 were unaffected, the book value of inventory and gross margins will be $2.1 million lower than would otherwise be the case for the period. The Company is exploring avenues to recover some or all of this amount.”

The business will not be commenting further as it is an ongoing police investigation.