Section manager of the Directorate of Fisheries’ Region North, Otto Andreassen, says that there has been even more mortality at one site in Troms.
“It is starting to become a significant quantity of dead fish out of this, we are now calling to all the farmers to investigate the situation even closer,” said Andreassen to SalmonBusiness.
At one location in Sør-Troms, there has been even more mortality than first reported.
“Fortunately, it has not been reported that the algae have spread to more sites than the six who first reported algae,” said Andreassen.
So far, the problem has been observed in parts of the Astafjord in Troms, including the Grovfjorden, Gratangen and Lavangen, and at the bottom of Ofotfjorden in Nordland. In total, four companies at a total of six localities are affected by the algae.
Andreassen says that it is the family business Northern Lights Salmon in Grovfjord in Southern Troms that is the hardest hit by the algae.
“There is talk of substantial quantity. A significant part of the fish has been lost,” he said.
Water samples have been taken in both counties to find out what type of algae is involved. During the night, researchers have been working on investigations of the algae, and the Directorate of Fisheries expects to get an early response to the tests.
