At the end of August, fishermen in Vestland reported abnormal bycatch of trout. The trout was found in both Øygarden and Bjørnafjorden. Eventually it became clear that 15,000 rainbow trout had escaped from Lerøy Sjøtroll’s facility, not far from Marstein lighthouse in Austevoll. – This is the largest escape event since 2016 when it comes to rainbow trout, and the highest total number of escapes in the same period, says Monica Haugland, senior adviser in the strategic aquaculture section of the Directorate of Fisheries. It turned out that a hole in the breeding facility was the cause of the escape. Attempts were made to plug the hole, 600 meters of net were set out, and NOK 250 per fish was promised as a reward. But for now, the result is meager in the hunt for the fish. More than three weeks later, 13,000 rainbow trout are still on the run. This fish has escaped from Lerøy Sjøtroll’s breeding facility. Food fish production of rainbow trout in 2022 was approximately 85,000 tonnes. Photo: Cato Heldal Kristensen / news Get a finder’s pay Most of the escaped fish are still in the sea. It has also taken up in several waterways. One of these waterways is the Os waterway. – The problem with the rainbow trout is that it spawns after the wild salmon and digs up the spawning pits that the wild salmon have laid their eggs in and lays their eggs in there, says Remi Bårdtvedt from Os jakt og fiske. Remi Bårdtvedt from Os hunting and fishing tries to stop the trout that want to enter Oselva. Photo: Cato Heldal Kristensen / news In Oselva there are 15 active fishermen with long experience. They are now fishing in shifts to prevent the escapees from getting into the river. More than 13,000 rainbow trout are still on the run. For every fish they catch, they get NOK 250. They are also allowed to keep the fish for their own use. – The pensioners stay on during the day and the rest of us after work in the evenings, explains Bårdtvedt. The fishing team has set up a camera that films how many fish pass by. – The feedback is that we are at over 90 per cent withdrawal of farmed fish. Salmon and trout, which are already found in Norwegian rivers, spawn in autumn, while rainbow trout spawn in spring. – We will therefore have some investigations done in the autumn, but it is important that we also go out and look in the rivers in the spring to check if there are fish there, says Haugland. Supervisory case opened Throughout Norway, three escape incidents with rainbow trout have been reported so far in 2023. The rainbow trout is an alien species in Norway. It is therefore not desirable that it should be allowed to establish itself. The trout is also a predatory fish that eats the other fish in the river. The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries has now opened an inspection case. – When it comes to what is to be done in the waterways now, snorkelling and swimming will be carried out where it is very shallow, and fish will be taken out by harpooning them, says Monica Haugland, senior adviser in the Directorate of Fisheries. Monica Haugland is a senior advisor in the Directorate of Fisheries. Photo: Cato Heldal Kristensen / news She says that the river owners’ associations in Oselva and Tysseelva will also take out fish by fishing with a rod. – Lerøy must compensate for that, says Haugland. Lerøy Sjøtroll says that they are cooperating with the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate about the escape, but do not want to be interviewed by news. To the website Kyst.no, general manager Morten Fjæreide in Lerøy Vest says that they take the incident seriously. – We apologize and are sorry for what has happened. We do everything we can to reduce the extent of the damage. Lerøy has a vision of zero escapes, and takes such incidents very seriously, concludes Fjæreide.
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A large-scale hunt is now taking place – news Vestland
