Thousands lost in Norcod November escape

The incident took place at a company facility at Nesna in the north of Norway, but the full extent of the escape has only just become known.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries said it was able to estimate the scale of the loss after the remaining fish in the cage at the centre of the incident had been slaughtered. The cod at the time had an average weight of 3kg.

The Directorate said: “The company is conducting recapture operations around the facility with a chartered vessel. Approximately 5,100 farmed cod have been recaptured, and this operation is still ongoing. The Directorate of Fisheries has an ongoing supervisory case regarding the incident.”

The company’s suspicions were aroused in late November after a hole was discovered in one of the cages at the site. Norcod said at the time that it has introduced emergency procedures and has already closed the hole. Since then, investigations have been taking place to uncover the extent of a possible escape and to find the cause of the damage.

The Directorate of Fisheries has said it would still like information and photos from anyone catching farmed cod in the area. It stressed that all reports are read and considered confidentially, but added that it may need to investigate further and interact with other agencies before it can follow up on information provided.