UK: Salmon giant Morpol is looking to introduce Norwegian-standard mooring systems for its Meridian salmon farms in Shetland after losing 12 cages in a severe storm this Christmas.
According to the Morpol’s annual report for 2011, investigations into the incident in late December 2011, where a storm led 12 cages on the coast of Shetland to be swept out to sea together with around 300,000i salmon, indicated that the moorings had failed.
“More robust systems are employed in Norway and their potential for use in Scotland is being assessed,” the company stated.
The fish is thought to have either escaped or died. Four cages sank around 100 km east of Shetland and will be recovered later, Morpol said. The other eight cages were towed back to be dismantled as they were badly damaged. In all, relocation and salvage took almost four weeks.
The whole episode has cost the company 911,000 Euro.
