Spate of escapes could lead to new regulations
Seven escape events - three of which occured from Eide Fjordbruk sites - have occured on the west coast of Norway after the recent storm "Nina", causing a great deal of negative publicity.
Knut-Frode Eide, head of Eide Fjordbruk, understands the criticism.
"Seven escapes is obviously too much, and should certainly not have happened. At the moment, we can not do other than to clean up after ourselves as best we can," he told Norsk Fiskeoppdrett/kyst.no.
In a bid to limit the damage the company has hired local fishermen to clean up after their escape of 51,000 salmon of between 4.4 and 6.3 kg.
"I greatly appreciate the good work that is being done in the effort to recapture the escaped fish and encourage fishermen to participate," he explains.
In the wake of the escapes, there has been much attention dranw to the NYTEK Regulations, which stipulate how the farms should be equipped to withstand extreme weather, and Eide thinks the government will take the opportunity to evaluate the situation and adjust the regulations.
"I guess the government will revise the regulations after this storm. We must await the conclusions. From my company's point of view we will work continuously and at all levels to avoid escapes," he says.
