Photo: Samherji
The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) has reported a significant escape of juvenile fish from Icelandic salmon farmer Samherji's land-based facility in Silfurstjarnan, Öxarfjörður.
The incident, which was discovered on May 6, 2024, may have led to thousands of fish entering the sea.
The escape was first noticed during a routine inspection on May 6 when juveniles were spotted in the facility's settling pond. It is believed that the incident occurred on May 2 due to a rise in water level in a juvenile tank, which caused the fish to be sucked out through an overflow opening into a drainage box.
The escaped juveniles, weighing approximately 70-80 grams, had not yet smolted, although MAST says it is possible they may have smolted in the settling pond and reached the sea.
According to information from Samherji, 868 juveniles were found outside the tank, but it was unclear at that time how many had escaped in total.
Following the notification from Samherji, MAST launched an investigation and requested detailed information from Samherji about their recovery efforts and the total number of escaped fish. Despite efforts to recapture the juveniles from the settling pond, MAST has not confirmed that all escaped fish were retrieved.
The investigation revealed that the company could not account for 5,196 fish, leading MAST to conclude that this number of juveniles may have smolted in the settling pond and escaped to the sea.
The inspection report highlighted "serious deviations" at the Samherji facility, noting that it was not equipped with sufficiently secure farming equipment and lacked adequately fine-meshed nets to prevent the escape.
MAST has documented these deviations from Icelandic regulations in its inspection report, which is now available on the agency's aquaculture dashboard. The report indicates that the land-based fish farm's equipment was not adequate to prevent such incidents.
MAST says it will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that corrective actions are taken to address these issues. The Icelandic authority has also informed Iceland's Directorate of Fisheries about the incident, emphasizing the need for improved preventive measures to avoid future occurrences.
