Northern Ireland: 5,000 Farmed Salmon Escape, Posing a Threat to Local Ecosystems

A defective net at the origin of this incident

According to the Daera, a “tear in the net of a farmed salmon cage” was discovered Sunday evening on an aquaculture site, causing the escape of 5,000 fish.

Local fishermen are concerned about the long-term consequences of this escape, fearing that these farmed salmon could threaten the health of wild salmon populations.

For the moment, analyzes are underway to understand the origin of this incident. A spokesperson for Daera explained to the British media BBC that its team was “currently assessing the situation and the measures to be taken”.

To deal with the situation, the ministry announced that the aquaculture company had repaired the damaged cage and that divers were inspecting and maintaining the other cages located in Glenarm and Red Bay.

A real threat to Irish salmon

This incident represents a risk to biodiversity as Gary Houston, president of the Ulster Angling Federation, reports to BBC News NI . In fact, it warns that escaped salmon risk reproducing with the wild population.

This could reduce the physical condition of the salmon, and thus weaken their survival rate.

The President of Ulster recalls that salmon from Northern Ireland would be “critically endangered due to escapes from farms, pollution and low survival rates in rivers and seas”.

Furthermore, he explains that “these farmed fish contain antibiotics, which are normally removed before slaughter. However, escaped salmon have not undergone this withdrawal period and could thus release these chemicals into the environment, making their consumption potentially dangerous..”

Aquaculture a significant ecological risk

This breeding method is also known as aquaculture. These are floating cages, which have a heavy ecological impact. Indeed, fish are present there in large numbers, which favors the spread of diseases. To remedy this, chemicals and antibiotics are added to the water, as highlighted by the specialized site World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Once these substances are ingested by fish, they transform the food chain, which in turn impacts wild populations. Mr. Houston recalls that “farmed salmon are treated with a range of antibiotics and sea lice chemicals“.

Thus, the main risk linked to the escape of farmed fish is the contamination of wild populations through genetic exchanges. In addition, the water from floating cages is rich in nutrients, which encourages the spread of diseases and parasites.

Sources : BBC, Ulster Angling Federation, WWF