Wednesday 14 April 2010

Ocean Trout Farms - Rainbow Trout Escape

Well it has happened again. Another 2,000 Rainbow Trout have escaped from Ocean Trout Farms, a sea based aquaculture operation located in Queens County, Nova Scotia.

The operators of the fish farm think hungry seals may have caused the problem that allowed the fish to escape.

The last time Ocean Trout Farms was mentioned here was in 2007 when 500,000 Rainbow Trout escaped during Hurricane Noel.

Those trout showed up in rivers along the coast from the Mersey and Medway all the way to the Sackville River here in the HRM.

The fear is of course that the fish may carry diseases and parasites from living in farm conditions that could get into the wild populations of Atlantic Salmon and Speckled Trout here.

 There is also concern that non-native Rainbow Trout could colonize some of the local rivers and lakes putting the native species under critical pressure.

This escape happened earlier this month but I heard nothing about it until I happened to see a small article in today's newspaper. I wonder what obligation this company is under to report escapes, mortalities, disease outbreaks or parasitic infestations? Having said that, I am not sure what value that information would have after the fact anyway.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Buddyboy said...

Steve: I can find no mentions elsewhere on the web about this story and would like to track down the details. Which newspaper did you read about this in? It must have been on April 13, 2010, and I thought it would be in the local paper, the Liverpool Advance, but I can't find it in there. Can you provide me any other sources please? I would have sent you a private message but you show no other contact details.
Bernie
medwayriversalmonassociation.org
medwayriver@hotmail.com

2 July 2011 at 05:10  
Blogger Steve Dobson said...

Hello Buddyboy;

I think I saw the story in the Chronicle Herald but was able to find a mention to it here, Fish Farm Escape
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Steve

2 July 2011 at 07:58  
Blogger Buddyboy said...

Thanks, Steve. That reference really helps. The Medway River Salmon Association is trying to raise awareness of the extreme damage that these open net fish farms do to wild stocks. Much appreciated.

2 July 2011 at 17:59  

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