Increased water temperatures in association with decreased dissolved oxygen levels have been blamed for a die-off at Little Burdock Cove, Newfoundland.

Decreased oxygen levels kill more than 17,000 fish at Mowi Canada East site

Editorial team
Published

Mowi Canada East has blamed the deaths of at least 17,600 salmon on a period of increased water temperatures in association with decreased oxygen levels, reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Mowi had  176,249 fish on site, and said more than 10% died.

The die-off occurred on July 20 at a marine site at Little Burdock Cove, near Rencontre East on the south coast of Newfoundland, and was reported on Monday to the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association.

Incident resolved

The dead salmon have been removed from the site, the report said, and the fish remaining show no signs of higher mortality rates.

The site is also continuing its harvesting efforts, citing in the report that there are just two weeks left in the harvesting process.

Gideon Pringle, Mowi Canada East's managing director and former production director of Mowi Scotland, confirmed to CBC that the incident was reported to the provincial government, and the issue was isolated to a single farm and quickly resolved.

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