Severe weather puts a stop to salmon harvesting

And farmers are also counting the cost of flooding, which has taken its toll on thousands of acres of land.

Marine Harvest, which is the biggest producer of Irish farmed salmon, reported exceptional fish mortality losses of €2.7m in Ireland during the final three months of 2013.

Company spokesperson Catherine McManus told the newspaper the weather conditions this winter had been "unprecedented" in the company's 35-year history in Ireland, making it difficult to access offshore sites.

This came on top of problems with large waves of jellyfish last summer and outbreaks of pancreas disease and gill disease, which resulted in high death rates.

Harvesting of salmon was suspended during January and will not resume till February 17 in an effort to grow the fish, a company financial report said.