The Marine Institute has released its report on the massive salmon die-off off the province’s south coast last summer.

Over two-million fish died in open net pens off the province’s south coast last September due to what Northern Harvest says was a prolonged warm weather event.

The fish, unable to escape the warmer waters, swam to the bottom of sea cages and suffocated. The situation was not publicly exposed until weeks after the die-off, when it was brought to the public’s attention by the FFAW.

The Marine Institute report concludes that the cause of the mortality was an “unusual set of natural environmental conditions,” highlighting prolonged water temperatures and low oxygen levels, and was not consistent with an infectious cause. The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources says the findings align with the determinations of its Aquatic Animal Health Division.

A number of the report’s findings have already been enacted, according to the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources. Those include:

setting strict requirements for the public reporting on escapes, mortality events and incidents, including quarantine or depopulation orders

implementing new policies and procedures on the submission of incident management system information to the department and other agencies for review and approval

all finfish operators must implement extensive and detailed mitigation measures addressing and preventing mortality events, by October of this year. As well, all marine cage systems will be required to meet updated standards by January 2024.

The full report can be viewed at this link.

(Photo courtesy Atlantic Salmon Federation.)