Anglers have caught 31 suspect salmon in River Lochy after mass escape
Season extended to stop farmed fish establishing in river after storm damage leads to breakout
Anglers fishing in the River Lochy have caught 31 suspected farmed salmon since an estimated 75,000 salmon escaped from a pen at Mowi Scotland’s Gorsten farm during Storm Amy.
Lochaber District Salmon Fishery Board (Lochaber DSFB) is encouraging local anglers to fish the river to catch any escapees that have entered the watercourse and the salmon fishing season on the river, which was due to have closed earlier this month, has been extended.
Mowi’s salmon, with an average weight of 860 grams, escaped through a tear in a pen net after Storm Amy caused mooring anchors to drag, the company said in a statement last week. This brought the pen net into contact with a flotation pipe, subsequently causing a tear in the net.
“Despite challenging conditions, Mowi swiftly informed the relevant authorities, including local fisheries stakeholders, and is now undertaking a full investigation,” the company stated.
The Gorsten farm is around three miles south of the mouth of the Lochy.
The number of suspected farmed salmon caught by anglers in the river was confirmed by the Lochaber DSFB, which is coordinating local anglers on all rivers and will report all fish landed on the Fisheries Management Scotland (FMS) Fish Farm Escapes app.
The Board has had no other reports of any suspected escapees landed from other rivers apart from one in the sea near Ardgour.
Identifying a farmed fish
Scottish Government advice lists the following characteristics for anglers to look out for when identifying a farmed fish:
- Deformed or shortened fins (especially the dorsal, pectoral and tail fins)
- Deformed or shortened gill covers (may be only on one side)
- Deformed or shortened snout
- Heavy pigmentation (spots more numerous than are usual on wild salmon)
Fisheries Management Scotland, which represents Scotland’s river fisheries boards, has standing advice that if a fish is clearly identified as of farmed origin, it should be humanely dispatched. The Fish Health Inspectorate should be contacted to alert it to the capture, including date of capture, river of capture and a photograph of the fish if possible.
FMS says that due to the need to maintain a withdrawal period following any sea lice or medicinal treatments of the farmed fish, “on no account should the fish be kept or consumed”.
In a statement about the escape last week, FMS said Mowi Scotland continues to work closely with the Lochaber DSFB to support ongoing recapture operations and had also initiated discussions to fund genetic studies in 2026 to monitor possible introgression and better understand any potential long-term environmental impacts of the incident.
Damaged net replaced
Mowi Scotland today told Fish Farming Expert: "We can now confirm that the pen has been reanchored and made safe again and the damaged net replaced. Investigations are still ongoing and Mowi continues to communicate and cooperate with all relevant stakeholders. It is inaccurate to suggest that any escaped fish might be diseased, cause environmental damage, or pose any significant risk to wild breeding populations.
"Mowi has set a target of zero escapes and invests in people and equipment to achieve this."
The fish farmer pointed out that it has a mandatory global training policy on fish escape prevention for all staff working with live fish and/or involved in operations where there is a risk of escape. The training must be completed every year.
"Mowi also invests in technological innovations that increase the robustness of our farming equipment to withstand risk of escapes. Sometimes, however, unintended factors such as extreme weather events, like Storm Amy, can result in fish escaping from our farms," said the company.
