It was at the end of September that the farming company Gadus Group reported that fish had escaped from three cages in the Voldsfjorden. Now the count shows that around 87,000 cod have escaped. The company has only managed to capture 408 back. – This is one of the biggest escapes in a long time, says Leni Marie Lisæter, who is acting section chief in the Directorate of Fisheries. Leni Mari Lisæter is acting head of section in the Directorate of Fisheries. She says that they are working to find out what happened when the cod escaped. Photo: Private They have created an inspection case and have been on inspection both at the breeding facility and those who prepared the nuts. It is still too early to determine whether the escape will have consequences in the form of non-compliance, fines or a police report. Will research the consequences The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research is involved in order to see what the escape means in the long term. The fear is that farmed cod will spawn together with wild fish – The offspring will have a slightly worse adaptation to nature, says research group leader Kevin Glover. The cod that lives in cages has been bred so that it will grow better in a man-made environment. It also means that it is worse at surviving in the wild. If the two have offspring, it could weaken the wild population. The researchers will therefore return to the Volda in the spring to see if farmed cod can be found on the spawning grounds. It can also happen that the fish dies before that time. Fish escaped from three cages in this farm. Now both the Directorate of Fisheries and the Institute of Marine Research are involved in the case. Photo: Mathias Engstrøm Sandstøl / Nærnett Expectation that it would happen The Norwegian Nature Conservation Association has been critical of farming in the Voldsfjorden and feared that this would happen. The cod has been known to be a breakaway king that bit through the cages and ran away. – It was not unexpected that there would be an escape, but we had not thought that it would happen so soon. The plant had only been in operation for six months, says Knut Festø. He is the local team manager. He thinks it is scary that one does not know the consequences of the escape for the wild cod. He fears that the farmed cod will infect the wild fish with diseases and that there will be competition for the food. The Nature Conservation Association demands that the governing authorities put the establishment of new cod farming facilities on hold. Six companies farm cod on 21 farms along the coast, according to the Cod Network. Fully responsible Falk Øveraas of Gadus Group says in a press release that they are sorry for what has happened. Photo: Gadus group / Press photo Gadus Group will not comment on the case beyond the press release they have sent out. There it emerges that they have carried out an investigation into the incident to uncover what happened and that they have introduced measures to prevent it from happening again. – We are all of course extremely sorry for what has happened and take full responsibility for everything that happens at our facilities. We have no interest in losing our fish and work every day to keep the fish safe and prevent such incidents, says Falk Øveraas. He is the company’s community and authority contact. Gadus Group was established in 2020 and has three cod farming facilities. Gadus Group has carried out an investigation to uncover what happened and prevent it from happening again. Photo: Øyvind Berge Sæbjørnsen / news
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87,000 cod have escaped from farming facilities at Gadus Group in Volda – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
