Marine Institute scientists look at ways of stopping fish farm escapes

The project, which involves eleven partners from Norway, Greece, Spain, Malta, Scotland and Ireland, began in April this year and will run until 2012. It is led by the Norwegian institute for fisheries and Aquaculture SINTEF and is funded under the European 7th Framework Programme.   

Dr Dave Jackson of the Marine Institute, who is heading up the project’s work package aimed at assessing the causes of escape incidents, said breaches of containment were a significant concern:

“Losses due to escapes from fish farms are of immediate concern to the farmers themselves, who are as keen as anyone to find new technologies and ways of working that will reduce escapes to an absolute minimum.    

“By carefully studying sea-cages and their immediate surrounding areas, we aim to assess both the technical and operational causes of fish farm escapes,” says Dr Jackson.  

“We will also try and find out what pre-disposes certain species of fish towards escaping and document the way fish disperse after escape so as to develop and test ways of recapturing them. The results of all this work will also be used to improve the equipment used in fish farming and the way it is operated, so as to minimise the chances of escapes into the future,” he added.