Votes by Woolies and Coles shareholders may determine the fate of the Maugean skate

At Woolworths annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday 30 October there will be two resolutions which affect the future of the skate now threatened with extinction. The resolution most directly relevant says:

5(b) Farmed seafood reporting

Shareholders request that Woolworths identify and report on the impacts of farmed seafood it procures for its Own Brand products on endangered species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) List of Threatened Fauna in its 2026 Sustainability Report.

Whether or not it gets up will also depend on a procedural motion that will be considered first. Last year a similar resolution was not put because a procedural motion that would have allowed the vote was defeated. But we know it would have had 30% support based on the proxy instructions.  (Proxy instructions are instructions on how to vote from shareholders who do not attend the AGM to vote in person.)

30% is not sufficient to change the company’s rules but it carries a powerful moral force, especially given that 61% of Woolworth’s shareholders with voting rights are institutional shareholders among the company’s top 20 shareholders.

A similar resolution is being put to Coles’ AGM on 11 November. Last year such a resolution received 39% of the vote as indicated by voting instructions but the vote was not put, again for technical reasons. While that vote was never put, Coles has made some positive changes. It discusses the endangered Maugean skate in its sustainability report and claims it has reduces sourcing from the Macquarie Harbour. It is also reported that Coles no longer labels its own brand Tasmanian salmon as “responsibly sourced”.

Clearly Coles could do a lot more to pressure Tasmanian fish farmers to clean up their act, and Woolies could make a start in that direction.