Salmon escaped from fishery

Marine Harvest Salmon algaeFarmed Salmon. Photo: Marine Harvest

Approximately 56,000 salmon have escaped from Marine Harvest’s plant in Nærøy, Trøndelag.

 

There were 180,000 salmon in the cage before the escape. Marine Harvest has taken note, and after a countdown, the Directorate of Fisheries on Tuesday afternoon was informed about how many fish had escaped.

The salmon in the cage weigh about two kilos each.

Marine Harvest states in a press release that the escape occurred after a net was damaged during a maintenance procedure at the farm in Arnøyfjorden on Monday.

The Directorate of Fisheries was notified and sent divers to the site.

The salmon escapees contain medicine residue. It’s medication against intestinal worms, Namdalsavisa was informed by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

On Tuesday, people in the area tried to catch the escaped fish. Marine Harvest will pay 300 kroner for each fish caught from their plant.

The event is being described as The great escape.

“In all of Norway, a total of 10,000 salmon escaped in 2017. This incident is five times as many,” says fish manager Anton Rikstad of the County Governor in Trøndelag to Namdalsavisa.

Marine Harvest states that they are looking very serious at the incident and, in cooperation with the Directorate of Fisheries and suppliers, will investigate how the escape occurred. The Directorate of Fisheries will be on-site for an inspection on Wednesday.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today