Cage-blaze fish escape total put at 6,881
A count of the remaining fish in a cage that was damaged by fire in Finnmark in northern Norway on Monday night shows that 6,881 Atlantic salmon escaped, farm operator Cermaq said in a statement.
The remaining fish were moved yesterday into a new cage and counted. There were 162,000 fish in the cage when the fire broke out.
A quick and effective response by employees at the Skinnstakkvika farm helped prevent a larger escape, said Cermaq, which added that it was the first time it had experienced a fire on a cage.
The company is now setting up a review group to look at the cause of the fire. Cermaq will invite external expertise, as well as suppliers of equipment and components for cages, to help with the review.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that 20,065 fry escaped from a tank at Framnessmolt’s facility at Framnes in Vågan municipality in Nordland.
The Directorate of Fisheries conducted a check on the plant and it was revealed that leakage in the tank’s drainage pipes, in parallel with the lifting of secondary protection outside the tank, was the reason for the escape.
The escape occurred in connection with vaccination of the fish in the plant. Prior to vaccination, the tank contained 96,000 fry with a weight between 20 and 30 grams.
