Mortalities happened at Cooke Aquaculture’s Cold Ocean Salmon site.
In a press release to Canadian authorities, Cooke Aquaculture writes the company suffered mortalities aboard the wellboat “Ronja Carrier” in Nova Scotia.
The salmon farmer wrote that the mortalities were a result of a residual disinfectant in one hold of the vessel. 30 per cent 19,800 trout mortalities occurred onboard from a total of 65,438 fish destined for a site in Margery Cove near St. Alban’s, NL.
“The mortalities have been removed upon transfer from the well boat to the marine cages and disposed of per the company’s standard operating procedures and farm management plan. The cages are being monitored for fish health daily,” wrote Cooke.
The recent loss of stock adds to an already tough year. In March, Cooke-owned Cold Ocean Salmon initially reported that 77,000 fish had died due to severe winter storm events, though that number turned out to be 160,000.
“Ronja Carrier”, built in 2002, has a loading capacity of 660 m3. The vessel has been with Cooke since 2013.
