Major Escape of Salmon

Major Escape of Salmon on South Coast

Cooke Aquaculture is reporting a major escape of salmon off the south coast. VOCM's Linda Swain has the details. A spokesperson for Cooke says some 20,000 salmon escaped into Hermitage Bay last Wednesday after high currents suddenly submerged one of the pens. A net was just being placed on top of one of the pens by workers when the current caused the anchor to slip, pushing some of the cages together and resulting in the escape of thousands of market-ready salmon. Cooke says DFO and the provincial department of fisheries were notified immediately and they're now working on a recapture plan. The company says it is working with DFO to get permission to catch the escaped fish, which are healthy and do not pose an environmental threat. The most likely scenario is that the fish will probably fall prey to predators, if not caught by licensed fishermen. Cooke says despite the loss to the company, the escape meant just two days of lost time at the local processing facility.