"Since the escape occurred in August, we at Arctic Fish have put a lot of work into reviewing our working methods with the aim of minimizing the risk of an escape," the company said.
Photo: Arctic Fish.
The police investigation into a fish escape from Mowi-owned Arctic Fish facilities in Patreksfjörður has now been closed, Arctic Fish has confirmed.
"The police in Vestfjörður have informed us that the investigation into an escape from our pen in Patreksfjörður has been stopped. There is no basis to continue it," the company wrote in an Icelandic language statement on its website.
"Since the escape occurred in August, we at Arctic Fish have put a lot of work into reviewing our working methods with the aim of minimizing the risk of an escape," the company said.
On 21 August, Arctic Fish reported to Icelandic Authorities that more than 3,000 salmon had escaped from its facility at Kvígindisdal in Patreksfjörður, after two holes were discovered in a net pen which contained more than 70,000 fish with an average weight of 5.5kg.
Following this, in September, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (Matvælastofnun – MAST) requested an official investigation by local police into the incident.
At the time, Arctic Fish CEO Stein Ove Tveiten confirmed to WeAreAquaculture that two holes were discovered in one of the company's net pens. "When we emptied the cage for harvesting, we had a deviation of 3462 fish, equal to 2.6% of the total amount in the cage," he said.
Arctic Fish issued an apology for the incident, and said it had immediately launched an internal review. However, the escape sparked off an intense public debate over fish farming safeguards in Iceland, where the salmon industry has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months.
In the wake of the fish escape controversy, the Icelandic Parliament announced it had approved an extra ISK 2.2 billion [$15.9 / €15 billion] in additional funding for aquaculture oversight by authorities.
John Gunnar Grindskar is the new COO Farming at Arctic Fish.
Photo: Arctic Fish.
Announcing that the police investigation had been dropped in December 2023, Arctic Fish said it had taken a series of measures to safeguard against fish escapes, as well as minimize possible environmental impacts more generally.
"Among other things, we have decided to stop using the type of feed spreaders that caused the hole. We are implementing a new electronic quality and maintenance system that improves work practices. There will be increased emphasis on staff training and the implementation of lighting controls to prevent puberty has been reviewed," Arctic Fish stated.
Among the raft of measures introduced by the company, Arctic Fish brought in a new COO for farming, John Gunnar Grindskar, an experienced fish farmer who formerly worked for parent company Mowi.
"We have also set up plans and secured equipment with the aim of keeping the lice load down."
"All these measures are aimed at minimizing the environmental impact of the activity," the company said.
