Norwegian cod-farming company Norcod has culled all fish in one of its net pens in response to an escape incident involving an unknown number of the company’s fish.
Norcod reported the suspected escape in an announcement on the Oslo Børs on 28 November, reporting that divers discovered a hole in the bottom of one of its net pens at its Labukta breeding facility in Nesna in Nordland. The company later said it discovered the hole after the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries told the company that a fisherman had caught a cod of just under 3 kilograms that was suspected to be from the company’s operations in Nordland.
“The torn seam was immediately sealed,” the company said.
Norcod said it is “working to find the extent of a possible escape” and what caused the hole; in the meantime, Norcod deployed re-catch nets and mobilized fishermen to recapture any escapees. The Directorate of Fisheries said it has started an investigation into the incident and that it is calling for tips and photos from any fishermen who suspect they caught a farmed cod in the area.
The company said so far it has found 11 cod in its recapture nets that it suspects originate from the facility.
“Norcod takes the incident seriously and initiates the culling of the cage to get a full overview of the scope, in addition to carrying out thorough technical investigations of the net,” the company said. “The company continues to work on mapping the scope and the reason why the opening occurred.”
The company did not specify how many fish were present in the net pen before the hole was discovered or how many it needed to cull.
The escape comes soon after the company reported its Q3 2024 results, which revealed an increase in its revenue but a similar increase in its operating losses in part due to a marine heat wave that killed off some of its fish. The heat wave caused its biomass at sea to remain relatively flat, and the company said it expected its production to normalize.
Norcod has also been forced to cull fish in the past due to the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries discovering sexually mature cod at its Frosvika, Norway-based cod aquaculture facility. That incident was also related to an escape, where fishermen discovered sexually mature farmed cod near its farm site.
