Photo: Norcod.
Norwegian cod farming company Norcod has reported an escape of farmed cod after an incident at one of its Nordland facilities.
According to the company, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries alerted Norcod about a possible escape after a local fisherman had caught what appeared to be a farmed cod. Following this, the company discovered a hole at a depth of 13 meters, in the bottom of one of its net pens at its farming facility Labukta on Nesna in northern Norway.
The damaged pen was sealed and the company says it has deployed recapture nets and "has mobilized emergency fishermen, in accordance with our emergency procedures", with 11 cod likely to originate from the facility recovered so far.
"Norcod takes the incident seriously and initiates the culling of the cage to get a full overview of the extent, in addition to carrying out thorough technical investigations of the net," the company said in a press statement.
"The company continues to work on mapping the scope and the reason why the opening occurred. Norcod has a close dialogue with the Directorate of Fisheries about the incident."
"Norcod encourages all local fishermen who believe they have caught farmed cod to deliver the fish to the facility, against a payment of NOK 100 per fish," the company said.
