Norway investigates escapes of at least 120,000 salmonids in wake of storm
January 23, 2015, 1:13 pm
Undercurrent News
At least 120,000 salmon are estimated to have escaped from six sites after rough weather hit the country on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday Jan. 10-11.
Two of the sites in questions were wrecked, while the storms caused holes in four other farms.
The directorate said it wants to understand exactly how this happened, to avoid such incidents in the future.
Approximately 110,000 of the escaped fish consists of sterile triploid salmon from Fyllingsnes Fisk and of rainbow trout from Sjotroll Havbruk, which do not pose a genetic danger to wild salmon, said the authority.
That said, rainbow trout is an alien species to Norway, and there is evidence that they could damage spawning grounds of wild salmon and sea trout. The directorate has therefore ordered Sjotroll Havbruk to catch the escaped rainbow trout across the fjords in Osteroy, while charting where the trout has been found.
The table below shows the estimated escapes caused by Nina: