Service NL says a stop work order was issued to Northern Harvest and Strickland’s Diving on the weekend after a diver got sick at the fish clean up site off the province’s south coast.
Reports indicate the diver suffered from decompression sickness, or the bends, while working on the clean up of a massive farmed fish die-off earlier this summer.
Occupational Health and Safety is investigating and officials remain on the site. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is also monitoring the clean-up effort.
DFO officials are in the area assessing the situation.
Questions had been raised about the release of water and material removed from the pens and pumped into the surrounding waters, but DFO says the deposit of organic waste is permitted under federal Aquaculture Activities regulations. The deposit of organic waste must be done in a manner to “avoid, minimize and mitigate any potential detriments to fish and fish habitat.”
Meanwhile, Northern Harvest Sea Farms says clean up activity is continuing despite dive activity being temporarily stopped.
In a statement released this morning, Northern Harvest Sea Farms says they do not employ divers as staff, but employs third-party dive service companies to perform needed dive-work.
The company says they were advised of the incident that required the involvement of Occupational Health and Safety, and since then, diver operations have been temporarily halted to investigate.
Northern Harvest Sea Farms says the Health and Safety Officer continues to work with the third-party company and OH and S in investigating the incident.
