According to Salmar, many fish were pumped to death, as a result of the central strainer being pushed off and fish entering what they call the “drain pump”. The incident took place on 13 November at Salmar Settefisk’s facility on Stonglandseidet in Senja. Salmar himself reported to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority that the incident had consequences for between 30 and 40,000 fish. They also believe that some fishermen have escaped from the facility. news has so far been unsuccessful in getting a comment from Salmar. It was the website LandbasedAQ that first mentioned the incident. Overpressure in the return pipe In the notification to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Salmar says that an error has occurred in connection with the biofilter wash, which led to overpressure in the return pipe from the vessel. – Fish has entered the center drain and been pumped through a pump that is used for draining vessels. The fish have thus been driven via the pump and to the fish trap. The fish in the department had an average weight of approx. 7 grams, says the message from SalMar to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Supervision may be relevant The Norwegian Food Safety Authority tells news that it is serious when an incident at a fish hatchery causes fish to die or suffer. They have requested more information from Salmar on how they have handled the deviation, especially with regard to measures to prevent a similar incident from happening again. – If we suspect a breach of any of our regulations, it may be appropriate to follow up with supervision there, says department manager for Troms and Svalbard, Torkjell Andersen. Head of department in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority for Troms and Svalbard, Torkjell Andersen, says they take incidents where fish die or suffer seriously. Photo: Hans Ludvig Andreassen / news He states that they had a routine inspection at the business on 6 November. – No serious conditions were uncovered during this inspection. A report is being prepared, says Andersen. According to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, such incidents are not common, but there are incidents at fish hatcheries that cause fish to die. – On a general basis, we see that the production of hatchery fish with recycling technology (RAS) is complicated and places great demands on equipment and expertise. If you have an incident first, there are often consequences for larger quantities of fish, says Andersen. Has taken measures According to LandbasedAQ, Salmar has notified the Norwegian Food Safety Authority that they have taken measures to prevent such incidents from happening again. Among other things, they must go over all center sieves, check attachment points and programming. – We will also have an internal review when we have an overview of the scope, they write in a message to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Salmar also informed the Directorate of Fisheries that some fish could also have escaped.
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Over 30,000 fish died at the Salmar plant in Senja – news Troms and Finnmark
