Human error blamed for 5,000 salmon escape from Samherja fish farm in Iceland

Human error has been blamed for the escape of 5,000 salmon from a Samherja fish farm, according to the company’s aquaculture executive, Jón Kjartan Jónsson. He stated that the incident was an accident and that the company has taken steps to prevent a recurrence.

The escape occurred in May at Samherja’s Silfurstjarnan fish farm in Öxarfjörður, when staff noticed that fish were missing from a salmon tank. An initial estimate suggested that around 900 fish had escaped into a holding pond outside of the tank, with the potential risk of them reaching the sea.

However, a subsequent inspection by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) revealed that over 5,000 salmon were missing from the tanks, a discrepancy that Samherja was unable to explain.

MAST concluded that the most likely scenario was that the fish had escaped from the tanks. The escaped salmon were unsmolted, meaning they had not fully matured to survive in the sea. However, MAST did not rule out the possibility that the fish could have smolted in the pond and subsequently survived in the sea.

Jónsson attributed the incident to human error and a design flaw in the new station that the company was beginning to use. “There was a design flaw that caused this,” he said. “But we have responded to it. These are, in fact, human errors. We will not let this happen again.”

Jónsson stated that as far as they were concerned, the matter was resolved and that the station would meet all requirements at the next inspection. “We are just practicing responsible aquaculture to the best of our ability. Accidents happen, and this was an accident,” he said.