Entire RAS department of 750,000 fish dead
A welfare incident at Cermaq's hatchery in Adamselv in Finnmark led to the loss of the 100g smolts.
Published
The event occurred on June 20 and was characterised by acute high mortality with high subsequent mortality.
This is shown by documents that LandbasedAQ Norway has been given access to.
In the initial notification to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Cermaq stated that around 170,000 fish had died, while around 20,000 fish were described as fainting. In a follow-up notification to the authority, the company stated that all the fish in the relevant recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) department had been lost.
Working to find the cause
Cermaq communications manager Astrid Vik Aam confirmed the incident to LandbasedAQ.
"We have had an incident with increased mortality in one section at our hatchery in Adamselv, which has resulted in the loss of fish in the affected section. This involves 750,000 fish with an average weight of about 100 grams," said Aam.
She states that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority was notified immediately.
"The crew at the facility has worked well to handle the situation and remove the dead fish. We are now working with both internal and external experts to find the cause of the incident."
Must clean up plastic pollution
The smolt farm in Adamselv was part of Grieg Seafood's operations in Finnmark, which were acquired by Cermaq last summer.
Earlier this year, the state administrator in Troms and Finnmark issued a cleanup order after plastic balls from the plant's moving bed filter were found in nearby natural areas.
The State Administrator also decided to impose a penalty of NOK 750,000 if the order is not documented to have been fulfilled by the deadline of August 15, 2026.
