Approximately 14,000 salmon, averaging 7.3 kilos each escaped from a farm operated by Leroy in Norway last week.
The Norwegian Environmental Protection Association (NMF) has reported salmon producing giant Leroy to the police over the escape of 14,000 salmon earlier in May.
Regional manager Arne Roger Hansen expressed deep concern over news of the escape, noting that the escaped salmon were has tested positive for diseases.
“NMF takes a very serious view of all salmon escapes, but is particularly concerned as the escaped salmon was also seriously ill,” Hansen wrote in an email to local media outlet, NTB.
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“If this salmon infects wild salmon in the rivers Trondheimsfjorden, it could quickly signal the end for a number of native wild salmon strains in the fjord.”
Lerøy itself confirmed the escape in a recent press release on Monday, stating that approximately 14,000 salmon, averaging 7.3 kilos each, had escaped. Prior to the escape, bacterial kidney disease (BKD) and pancreas disease (PD) had been detected at the facility.
