One of Cooke's fish farms. (Photo Credit: Cooke Aquaculture)
Cooke Aquaculture suffers major blow due to escapee salmon
(CANADA, 9/26/2013)
Cooke Aquaculture salmon firm suffered a major drawback when thousands of almost ready to be harvested salmon broke free and swam into the open sea.
The firm's farmed salmon facility in Hermitage Bay lost around 20,000 salmon, which managed to escape from a sea cage last week. The firm blames high tides and unusually strong currents for the incident, which submerged and opened one of the pens on 18 September, reports CBC News.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) was immediately notified of the accident and is working on a recapture plan. To this end, it has authorized Cold Oceans Salmon to legally capture the escapee salmon.
If licensed fishermen do not catch the salmon first, it is presumed that their natural predators such as seals will eat them. The salmon had almost the right size to be traded when the incident occurred.
Cooke is in negotiations with DFO to legally catch the escapee fish, which are not a threat for the local marine ecosystem.
Geoff Perry, DFO’s Director of Aquaculture Management, has informed that some local commercial fishermen will be employed to try and minimise the company’s losses. If this move proves ineffective, other measures will be taken into account.
Perry expressed that he knows that some of these salmon are already being caught by local residents and stressed that despite it being illegal, the fish were safe for consumption.
By Gabriela Raffaele
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
Information of the company:
Address:
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57 Little River Dr.
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City:
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Belfast
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State/ZIP:
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Maine (04915)
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Country:
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United States
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Phone:
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+1 207 338-6280
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Fax:
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+1 207 338-6288
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More about:
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