Approximately 200 fish have escaped from a Cermaq owned farm in Norway after being inadvertently pumped onto the deck of a wellboat.
In an operational mishap during a delousing procedure at the “Storholmen” fish farm in the Finnmark region on October 26, approximately 200 fish were inadvertently pumped onto the deck of a wellboat.
The incident resulted in these fish entering the sea outside the net.
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Contingency plans was immediately implemented, Cermaq spokesperson Astrid Aam told SalmonBusiness.
“The Norwegian authorities were notified, and recapture nets were in place within 10 minutes after the incident,” she said. “Cermaq has a close dialogue with the wellboat company to ensure mitigating actions are in place to avoid similar incidents in the future.”
The fish within the “Storholmen” facility were reported to be in good health, with the pen containing 192,000 fish averaging 400 grams in weight, according to Cermaq.
Cermaq is actively engaging with the wellboat company to ensure the implementation of preventive measures aimed at averting similar incidents in the future, said Aam.
To date, no salmon have been captured in the recapture nets.
