More salmon farmers on the western coast of Norway have reported escapes, following damage caused by the winter storm known as Nina that hit the country last weekend.
Farming companies Eide Fjorbruk and Engersund Fiskeoppdrett have informed the fisheries directorate of possible escapes, after finding their nets had been damaged by the hurricane-strong winds, which caused power outages in what was said to be the strongest storm in 20 years.
The scale of the escapes remains uncertain. The affected farms held fish weighing an average of 4 kilos and 2.9 kilos, respectively.
Photo by Atlantic Salmon Federation
The damage reported by Engesund Fiskeoppdrett refers to its site in Lervika, Masfjorden, located just north of Bergen. The farm found the storm had created a tear of 2 to 3 meters wide in the net, at a depth of approximately 13 meters.
The affected Eide Fjorbruk farm is located in Hagardsneset, in the commune of Kvinnherad, between Bergen and Stavanger. An inspection of the site revealed a hole of approximately 1 by 1.5 meters in one of the cages.
At least two other farmers have suffered losses to the storm. On Jan. 12 it was reported that a section of a farm in Lindas — just north of Bergen — belonging to Fyllingsnes Fisk and containing some 60,000 triploid salmon was cut loose and went adrift due to the poor weather.
Both the drifting section and the remaining part, which contained some 35,000 salmon, were found to have holes in the nets.
Meanwhile, Sjotroll Havbruk reported an escape of rainbow trout from a site in Angelskar, Osterfjorden, also just north of Bergen. The directorate later informed that the escaped fish, which weigh between 2.5 to 3.5 kilos, had recently been treated with the lice treatment Slice and should therefore not be eaten.
Marine Harvest also confirmed that an escape of fish in December came from one of
its sitesin Kvinnherad. That fish had also been treated with Slice in December.
