Diver cut holes in net to dump 15 tons of dead fish
Norwegian fish farmer Bremnes Seashore and a commercial diving firm, AD Offshore, have received fines of NOK 300,000 (£30,000) after a diver was commissioned by a former regional manager to cut holes in a net cage to drop 15 tons of dead fish into the sea.
In addition, a former Bremnes Seashore manager for the Bømlo region was fined NOK 20,000, according to a report in Sunhordland newspaper.
The case against the diver, who has not accepted culpability, will be heard at Sunnhordland District Court in early December.
According to the paper, Bremnes Seashore suffered stock high mortality after delousing in January-February 2014 because the fish also had amoebic gill disease (AGD). According to the incident details accompanying the fine imposed on Bremnes Seashore, the dead fish pumps failed at the site. And because of limitations in wellboat access, the dead fish were not removed before they started spring delousing.
Reported to police
The regional manager of Bremnes Seashore hired a diver from AD Offshore on March 29, 2014 to remove the fish that had been there for a long time and were rotting. It was agreed that the diver should cut holes in the note to release the approximately 15 tons of dead fish into the sea.
When the incident was known to senior management in Bremnes they chose to notify the FSA food production authority, which then reported it to the police.
Bremnes Seashore chief executive, Einar Eide, stressed to the newspaper that what happened is not in line with the company's ethical rules.
