A cargo ship reportedly crashed into a fish farm and caused more than 80,000 rainbow trout’s to make an escape into the open sea.
On Tuesday, a cargo vessel handled by Danish anglers was sailing from the Russian territory of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea to Kolding in Denmark when it, unfortunately, collided with the fish farm between the Danish islands Funen and Jutland. The fish farm was owned by aqua farming firm Snaptun.
Tim Petersen, co-owner, and director at Snaptun Fisk said, “The rainbow trout, weighing about 3 kg (6.6 lb) each, had been due to be slaughtered this week and were worth up to 10 million Danish crowns ($1.5 million). We will seek compensation from the ship owners”.
Danish Technical University Aqua researcher Jon Svendsen said, “The incident could damage the sea habitat. The escapees are likely to disturb the eggs and young of wild sea trout”.
The rainbow trout that were reared on the farm were unused to life in the open sea and are predicted to survive only for a few months.
On a lighter note, Soren Knabe, Director of fishing association Vandpleje Fyn said, “All sports fishermen should get out there with their gear and start fishing”.
Recalling similar incidents that have occurred in the past, Ulrik Jeppesen, a local angler mentioned that the trout will begin to bite after four to five days as they adjust to life in open waters. He further added, “I see this as a bit of a tragedy (for the environment), to be honest. But I will probably make a trip or two out there”.
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Source: Reuters
