The history of the special calculation stretches back to November last year. Firda Sjøfarmer then reported major damage to one of the moors at Hyseneset in Gulen municipality. Just before New Year’s, the company said more about how many rainbow trout escaped: The number reported to the Directorate of Fisheries is 289 fish. Firda Sjøfarmer reported that 289 fish escaped through a 54×77 centimeter hole in November last year. Photo: Firda Sjøfarmer There is only one problem. Director of Fisheries Frank Bakke-Jensen can’t get the math to add up. This is clearly stated in a press release sent out by the Directorate of Fisheries last week. Reacting to numbers Because while the number of escaped fish is 289, the number of fish that have been recaptured is 330. In other words, 41 fish have been recaptured after escaping – without having escaped. – The company reported that 289 fish escaped, which corresponds to only parts of the catch, writes Bakke-Jensen. Senior adviser Monika Haugland says it even more clearly, when asked directly by news: – We believe that the escape is greater than what the company states. There is talk of a major damage to the net, and it is uncertain how long the damage has been there before he was discovered. The company itself has recaptured 330 rainbow hours. In addition, the Directorate of Fisheries has received tips about the capture of around 200 fish that are linked to this incident. The difference is thus even greater: 289 escaped fish become 530 fish that have been recaptured. That means 241 fish that have been recaptured, but have not escaped. Director of Fisheries Frank Bakke-Jensen can’t get the math to add up. Photo: Mathias Sommerseth Kjellmo / news Lack of overview The director of fisheries believes the case is an example of a larger problem. Namely, that there is no correspondence between the numbers that are reported in and the real numbers of escapees. He says frankly that no one knows how many fish escape each year. – The escape of farmed fish is still a major challenge in the industry, and even after dialogue with the industry we see no improvement in methodology and routines for assessing the scope of escapes, says Bakke-Jensen. Out of a total of 117 reported incidents in 2023, around 18,000 escaped farmed fish have so far been reported. Today, no one has an overview of how many fish actually escape, writes the Directorate of Fisheries. Photo: National Institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research But this figure needs to be far from correct, according to the directorate itself. Bakke-Jensen points out that in some cases no counting is carried out. Instead, the companies make estimates based on subjective assessments. In some cases, the number of recaptured fish is reported as the number of escapes. – We consider it highly unlikely that all escaped fish will really be recaptured. Explaining the calculation as Allereie on Monday 8 January, the Directorate of Fisheries stated that they were critical of the escape story from Firda Sjøfarmer at Hyseneset. The company itself believes that the calculation has a natural explanation. They have given a conservative estimate, in which no more was reported than what Firda Sjøfarmer is pretty sure of. – Have they counted incorrectly or underreported how many fish escaped? – The count, which yielded a positive number deviation, could not be used as a “fix” on escaped fish from the cage, replies executive director Nicolai Berg-Arnesen. The breeding facility is located at Hyseneset in Gulen municipality. Photo: news He further writes that the company chose to report the number of fish that “we could estimate with great certainty were escaped fish from our facility” – and that estimating a number could quickly turn out to be wrong. – Even if the numbers from the recapture at the locality cannot determine precisely escaped fish, the count confirms – margin of error included – that this has indeed been a limited escape. news sent new questions to Firda Sjøfarmer after the Directorate of Fisheries referred to the company in the press release that was sent out last week, rightly enough without naming names. The company replied on Saturday that they did not wish to comment on this. Rejects under-reporting Seafood Norway rejects that the industry under-reports. – We have a common goal with the directorate and the governing authorities that fish should not escape, writes Jon Arne Grøttum, director of aquaculture. Sjømat Noreg points out that “a tireless effort” has been made to reduce the number of escapees, and that there has been a downward trend in the number of escaped fish over several years. He points out that rainbow otter, of which 15,015 escaped in 2023, cannot cross with cork otter or salmon. – Escaped fish are much less of a problem now than in the past, and targeted work has been done to bring them under control.
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The director of fisheries reacts to imprecise numbers of escapees – news Vestland
