Escape suspected at salmon farm after tuna bursts through net
The 350-kilogram fish smashed its way into the pen at a Mowi site in southern Norway
Published
A fish escape is suspected to have occurred at a Mowi salmon farm in Norway after a tuna weighing a third of a tonne torpedoed its way into a pen.
Ragnhild Dahle Heen, group leader in the aquaculture supervision and guidance section of Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries, told Fish Farming Expert’s Norwegian sister site, Kyst.no, that the department received a report of a tuna in a pen on Thursday, October 22.
The incident occurred at Mowi's Skipningsdalen fish farm in Flekkefjord municipality in Norway’s southwest corner. Heen said that the company has initiated recapture procedures.
“The extent of the escape has not been clarified, but is reported to be small. The Directorate of Fisheries is following up on the incident according to current inspection routines,” added Heen.
Will be harvested next week
Morten Bertelsen, communications director at Mowi, confirmed that the company discovered a tuna in a net at Skipningsdalen last Thursday.
“The tuna was quickly removed by the employees. A hole was discovered in the net and recapture nets were set according to procedures, but we have so far not caught any salmon in the nets.”
According to Bertelsen, the tuna weighed around 350 kilograms.
He further stated that the fish in the cage will be harvested and counted next week. They weigh an average of 5.4 kilograms.
