Climate change keeps warming up the seas, also those off Norway, and that’s bad news for the country’s large salmon farming industry called oppdrett. Now the country’s maritime research institute is calling on salmon producers to adapt.
Higher temperatures, more storms that also cause more runoff into the sea, and lower salt and oxygen levels in seawater aren’t good for salmon swimming around in offshore fish-farming facilities. It all raises the likelihood of more disease among the fish and more chances for them to escape their large offshore cages called merder in Norwegian.
The researchers at Norway’s Havforskningsinstituttet believe such changes in the ecosystem around fish farming make it less robust, raising the risk for both farmed- and wild salmon. They’re now urging fish farming companies to develop technology that can move the fish from high up in the water to lower and colder depths. Salmon thrive at temperatures of 10-14C but stop eating when temperatures rise above 20C.
“We know that new illnesses will come in the future, but we don’t know which ones,” research chief Mari Skyggedal Myksvoll told news bureau NTB. “That’s why it’s important to follow developments, and adapt to new realities.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff
