Leroy Seafood loses 2.6m salmon as fire rips through Norwegian fish farm
Around 2.6m salmon died yesterday as a fire broke out at a fish farm run by one of the world’s largest producers.
Oslo-listed Leroy Seafood said that the baby fish, due to be released into the sea in April, were killed as a blaze ripped through its Laksefjord facility in Finnmark on Sunday morning.
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A maintenance contractor at the site is also missing, the company said.
“Lerøy Seafood Group will continue to assist the subcontractor, the police and other public bodies in conducting an enquiry into what has happened. Initially the focus has been to obtain an overview of the situation, and implement mitigation measures,” it said in a stock exchange announcement.
The company added: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family circle, friends and his colleagues.”
Yesterday local police tweeted: “Large fire in an industrial building in relation to a salmon farm in Friarfjord. Major resources have been deployed to the location which is some way outside of civilisation.”
The farm usually employs 54 people,local media reported.
Leroy Seafood is Norway’s 35th largest company with a turnover of 19bn krona (£1.7bn), according to Kapital Index.
Shares fell around 1.2 per cent to 66.74 krona this morning.