Dying Salmon Trouble Norway's Vast Fish-farm Industry

Oslo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Apr, 2024) They are hailed for their omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients, but Norway's salmon are not in the best of health themselves at the fish farms where they are bred.

Almost 63 million salmon -- a record -- died prematurely last year in the large underwater sea pens that dot the fjords of Norway, the world's biggest producer of Atlantic salmon.

That represents a mortality rate of 16.7 percent, also a record high and a number that has gradually risen over the years -- posing an economic and an ethical problem to producers.

The salmon succumb to illnesses of the pancreas, gills or heart, or to injuries suffered during the removal of sea lice parasites.

"The death of animals is a waste of life and resources," Edgar Brun, director of Aquatic Animal Health and Welfare at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute, told AFP.

"We also have a moral and ethical responsibility to guarantee them the best possible conditions."

Norway's salmon exports exceeded $11 billion last year, with the 1.2 million tonnes sold representing the equivalent of 16 million meals per day.

The 63 million prematurely dead salmon represent almost $2 billion in lost income for the industry.

Salmon that die prematurely are usually turned into animal feed or biofuel.

But according to Norwegian media, some fish that are in dire health at the time of slaughter, or even already dead, do sometimes end up on dinner plates, occasionally even sent off with a label marked "superior".

"I see fish on sale that I myself would not eat," a former head of quality control at a salmon slaughterhouse, Laila Sele Navikauskas, told public broadcaster NRK in November.

Eating those salmon poses no danger to human health, experts say.

"The pathogens that cause these illnesses in the salmon cannot be passed on to humans," Brun explained.

But the revelations damage the salmon's precious image.

"If you buy meat in a store, you expect it to come from an animal that was slaughtered in line with regulations and not one that was lying dead outside the barn," said Trygve Poppe, a specialist in fish health.

"Otherwise, as a consumer you feel tricked."

The Norwegian food Safety Authority said it observed anomalies at half of the fish farms inspected last year, noting that, among other things, injured or deformed fish had been exported in violation of Norwegian regulations.

In order to maintain its strong reputation, only salmon of ordinary or superior quality is authorised for export.

The lower quality fish -- which accounts for a growing share of stocks, up to a third last winter -- can only be sold abroad after it has been transformed, into fillets for example.