Major salmon escape feared at Mowi site

Mowi Communications Director Ola Helge Hjetland told the Norwegian media yesterday: “There is no doubt that this is a serious and very regrettable situation.

“There is ongoing, extensive activity at the site to repair the damage and minimize the extent of the incident, but the conditions are very demanding with high winds.”

The fish in the cage have an average weight of 5.5 kilos.

Because the weather has been so bad, Mowi has been unable to estimate exactly how many fish have escaped. But it is thought there are some fish left in the cage.

There is currently an ongoing operation to recover as many fish as possible despite the weather.

The company has received assistance from the large coast guard ship KV Svalbard, which acted as a breakwater in front of the facility.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries said last night: “We have given the company a verbal order to expand the recapture fishing area .

“Farmers are initially only allowed to conduct recapture within a 500-meter zone around the facility in the event of escapes. Given that this could be a major escape, Mowi has received a verbal order from the directorate to conduct recapture fishing outside the 500-meter zone.”

It added: “The extent of the escape is not clear. The Directorate of Fisheries will follow up the incident with supervision, according to normal procedures."