The suspected presence of pathogenic infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus at the farming site A-73 Hvannasund Nordur operated by Faroese Atlantic salmon producer Bakkafrost Group has now been confirmed.
Site A-73 Hvannasund Nordur has been under increased surveillance since July 2016 when a routine surveillance test resulted in suspicion of fish being infected by pathogenic ISA-virus.
Earlier this month, Bakkafrost took the decision to harvest all of its remaining fish at the site early as a precautionary action.
The accelerated harvest is expected to conclude by mid-April. The site was holding approximately 1 million fish with an average weight of 3.2 kg whole fish equivalent.
Consequently, its total harvest volume for 2017 is expected to fall by around 2,000 metric tons (MT) from an earlier forecast to 53,500 MT.
The confirmation of pathogenic ISA-virus will see A-73 Hvannasund Nordur left to fallow for a minimum of six months once the site is emptied of fish.
