Farmers have lost more than 10,000 tonnes of salmon from the algae bloom

by
editorial staff

The Directorate of Fisheries’ preliminary figures show over 10,000 tonnes of farmed salmon have died as a result of the algae bloom in northern parts of Norway.

The Directorate of Fisheries presents a calculation that shows that values 63 million Euros have been lost as a result of the algae bloom. The directorate assumes a price per kilo of 6,3 Euros.

The resurgence is not over, the directorate states.

Farmers in Troms have not reported mortality since 17 May. In Nordland there is still high mortality and several new sites are affected. Most recently, large mortality was reported at Ellingsen Seafood.

At one location boxes with dead fish are piled up after the algae attack

The forecasts for the coming day are outgoing water flow from Ofotfjorden, which means that several sites in the outer parts of the fjord are in danger. There are still reports of mortality in middle and inner parts.

In water samples, algae have been detected in the genus Chrysochromulina. This is a common algae in Norwegian waters, but in conditions that are particularly good for the algae, it can bloom in large numbers and be lethal to fish.

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