About 800 farmed salmon escaped from Cermaq’s Rypefjord facility near Hammerfest due to a dislodged transfer pipe, prompting concerns over genetic threats to wild salmon in Repparfjordelva and Altaelva and calls for stronger containment measures.

Escapted farmed salmon threatens wild salmon stocks across Northwest Iceland, where it has entered rivers.

A tear was discovered in one of Arctic Fish’s open-sea fish farms in Dýrafjörður in the Westfjords. A notice on the company’s website says the tear was discovered during routine inspection and is located at a depth of about 20 metres (65 feet).

Three farmed salmon have been caught in the Westfjords this season. Farmed salmon have a tendency to swim up rivers later in the season than wild salmon, meaning the true number of escapees may not be apparent until the end of the fishing season.