Large quantities of farmed salmon have escaped from Aller Aqua’s farm in Vadheim. The incident happened on Saturday, in connection with the delivery of fish for slaughter. Exactly how many salmon have escaped is unknown, but there must have been around 40,000 salmon in the cage when the incident occurred. The escape could have major consequences for the wild salmon population in other rivers in the area. – This is deeply tragic. This is genetic pollution, and we don’t need any more of it, says Knut Munthe Olsen, landowner in Årøyleva in Sogn. Aller Aqua has not responded to inquiries from news about an interview today. Can get an order to fish out Just before the escape in Vadheim, the landowner had received a happy message from divers who hunted escaped farmed salmon in his own river. Here they found no uninvited guests. But the divers had barely packed their snorkels away before the news of a salmon escape in Sogn came. The landowner says there have already been reports of extra salmon in Aurland. It will probably only take days before the other rivers, including the Årøyelva, receive their uninvited guests. This was also the case in 2019, when over 10,000 farmed salmon escaped from Slakteriet Brekke in Gulen and into the Sognefjord. The Directorate of Fisheries has been notified of the incident in Vadheim. Regional director Leni Lisæter says they are working to map the situation. The extent is still unknown. Here at the facility in Vadheim, farmed fish escaped at the weekend. – It could be that the facility receives orders to fish out salmon in rivers that may be unsafe, she says. Lisæter says that it is usually during de-lice operations or during delivery for slaughter that such escapes occur. The facility now pays fishermen a “shot premium” of NOK 200 per salmon they deliver back. Infected fish at the plant Something that can make the salmon escape even worse is that earlier this year Pancreas disease (PD), which is a serious salmon disease, was detected. Gro Eliassen, head of department at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, confirms that fish were infected with PD at the facility in Vadheim. Pancreatic disease ♦ Pancreatic disease occurs in farmed Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. ♦ Is caused by a virus called PD virus or Salmonid alphavirus (SAV). ♦ Occurs while the fish is in salt water. ♦ The outbreaks are long-lasting and usually fatal for the fish. ♦ First discovered when the fish stops eating. ♦ The fish die after 2 – 3 weeks ♦ The disease was discovered in Ireland in 1976 – Do they know if it was infected fish that escaped? – No, it is unknown to us. Eliassen says it is not dangerous for humans to eat infected fish. Big problem So far this year, 17,659 salmon, spread over 26 escapes, have escaped from Norwegian farms. Figures from the Directorate of Fisheries show so. – But we have to take our words with a big pinch of salt, says Sigurd Hytterød, specialist manager of Norwegian Salmon Rivers. One reason is that it is difficult to know exactly how many salmon there are in the pens. – We think there is worse to come, he says. Salmon lice and escaped farmed salmon are today the biggest threat to wild salmon, which was redlisted last year. – The wild salmon has adapted to life in the river over thousands of years. When it mixes with farmed salmon, the offspring acquires different characteristics than it should have. Then the offspring fare worse, and fewer return to the rivers. There are approximately 450 salmon stocks in Norway. The Norwegian Institute for Natural Research and the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research have examined 230 of these. The figure is discouraging: Two out of three populations are genetically affected by farmed salmon. At the same time, major genetic influence has been demonstrated in one of three rivers. Can take many years Krister Hoaas is regional manager Havbruk West, Seafood Norway. – One escape incident is one too many, and therefore systematic work is being done to reduce the risk of escape. We also see the results of that. Hoaas points out that the escape rate has decreased over time. – The amount of escaped fish in the rivers has not been lower as long as there have been good figures for mapping and registration, he says. The regional manager points out that they also have good mitigating measures to remove escaped fish from the river. But Sigurd Hytterød in Norske lakselever says it takes a long time to reverse genetic pollution. – Even though the number of escapes has decreased, a large escape will cause great damage that can last for many years. Svein Rune Kyrkjebø does what he can to catch the salmon that has escaped. Photo: Steinar Lote / news
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40,000 salmon may have escaped from farms in the Sognefjord – news Vestland
