Posted on March 28, 2017 by Jenny Hjul • 0 Comments
BAKKAFROST today disclosed that its suspicions of pathogenic ISA virus at one of its farms has now been confirmed.
The big Faroe Islands fish farmer said the problem was centred at the farming site A-73 Hvannasund Norður which has been under increased surveillance since July last year, when routine tests resulted in suspicion of fish being infected by ISA virus.
After the original alert extensive tests were carried out with the purpose of confirming these suspicions, but none of the results from these tests proved the presence of a pathogenic ISA virus.
However, more tests were carried out in January this year, which again raised suspicions. These were at two cages, one of which was suspected last summer.
Bakkafrost then decided to take immediate action and harvested all the fish in these two cages while at the same time keeping a close watch on the site.
A company statement said: ‘The accelerated harvest is expected to be finished by the middle of April and Bakkafrost maintains expected harvest volumes for 2017 to be 53,500 tonnes gutted weight, unchanged from the market announcement on 16 March 2017.
‘The confirmation of pathogenic ISA virus at farming site A-73 Hvannasund Norður results in a prolonged fallowing period of six months minimum for farming site A-73 Hvannasund Norður, after the farming site is emptied for fish.’
The discovery is plainly a setback for the company, but one it can and has managed effectively. Three weeks ago it reported substantially increased profits for the fourth quarter of 2016.
The total operating EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) of 349.6 million Danish kroners (DKK) compared to DKK 257 million for the fourth quarter in 2015.
Quelle: www.fishupdate.com/bakkafrost-confirms-isa-outbreak/