Iceland Slaughters ISA-Infected Salmon - is Scotland next in the firing line?

 

Laxar slaughter all fish in a farming area in Reyðarfjörður due to Infectious Salmon Anaemia @RUVfrettir https://t.co/QoPxw85BEa
Were infected salmon eggs (ova) @WeAreBenchmark the source of ISA? Will Scotland block shipments of ova from Iceland? @marinescotland @ScotGovNetZero

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) December 14, 2021

 

 

 

RUV reported (13 December 2021):

 

 

 

Here's a rough translation into English via Google Translate:

 

Laxar slaughter all fish in a farming area in Reyðarfjörður

Rúnar Snær Reynisson - RÚV

Laxar have decided to slaughter salmon from all pens in a farming area in Reyðarfjörður.

A virus that can cause anaemia was diagnosed in one pen there last month. This was the first time that a pathogenic variant of the so-called ISA virus was detected in salmon in Iceland. It belongs to the influenza virus and is sometimes called salmon flu.

The virus was discovered during autopsy and sampling after an abnormal amount of salmon was killed in one female. It was decided in consultation with the Food Administration to kill and dispose of all salmon in the pen. The fish was rather young and far from being slaughtered. Fish were monitored in other pens at the farm and screened for the virus.

Jens Garðar Helgason, CEO of Laxi, says in an interview with the news agency that weak evidence has been found of infection in other pens. However, no abnormal salmon deaths were reported, but in consultation with MAST it was decided to speed up the slaughter of all fish at the station. The company does not want to take any risks and put the area to rest immediately. However, not all of the fish will be discarded, but part of it has reached slaughter size and will be processed.

 

 

 

Undercurrent News reported (14 December 2021):

 

 

 

 

Earlier this month (2 December 2021), Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to Scottish Ministers:

 

 

"We need to head off the accusations of disease in Icelandic eggs though suggest we don't address the accusation directly" said @scotgov @marinescotland @ScotGovNetZero employee in February 2020. Now that ISA is reported in Iceland will you be banning ova imports? @MairiGougeon pic.twitter.com/Wibvt32wnY

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 29, 2021

 

 

 

Data published by the Scottish Government in September 2021 via the 'Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2020' detailed imports of ova from Iceland flooding 'Scottish' salmon farms following the ban on ova imports from Norway due to ISA risks in 2019:

 

 

Game Ova for Iceland?
Last year, 'Scottish' salmon farming imported 42 million salmon eggs (ova) from Iceland - how many were infected with Infectious Salmon Anaemia? @scotgov @MairiGougeon @marinescotlandhttps://t.co/SupjI0ROMP @EFTAsecretariat @Iceland_Review #Iceland #ISA pic.twitter.com/VtJk2POf8m

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 27, 2021

 

 

 

Here's all the ova imports since July 2020 (as disclosed by the Scottish Government via FOI in March 2021):

 

 

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch reported last month (26 November 2021):

 

Now that pathogenic Infectious Salmon Anaemia is suspected in Iceland will Scotland close the border to ova imports to stop the risk of disease transfer? @MairiGougeon @marinescotland @ScotlandSalmon @WeAreBenchmark @fms_scotland @SalmonTroutCons https://t.co/3d7SGEVAb5 https://t.co/HMxIA5pCD8

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 26, 2021

 

 

 

Intrafish reported (26 November 2021):

 

 

 

Salmon Business reported (26 November 2021) that the suspected case of ISA was at Norwegian-owned Laxar who is understood to source salmon eggs (ova) from Stofnfiskur:

 

 

 

Fish Farmer reported (29 November 2021):

 

 

Since June 2019 (after Norwegian ova were banned due to Infectious Salmon Anaemia), #Iceland has accounted for 68% of ova imports into #Scotland with #Norway accounting for less than 1%. Now that #ISA is in Iceland will ova imports be banned? @scotgov @MairiGougeon @MairiMcAllan pic.twitter.com/ppEROAmYDN

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 29, 2021

 

 

 

Now that Infectious Salmon Anaemia has been reported at Laxar in Iceland (a Norwegian-owned company which is sources ova from Stofnfiskur - rebranded Benchmark Genetics Iceland in January 2021) will Scotland now ban Icelandic ova imports and rely only on Irish ova imports? 

 

Norwegian-owned Laxar - hit by Infectious Salmon Anaemia in #Iceland - sources salmon eggs (ova) from Stofnfiskur (Benchmark) @WeAreBenchmark
Since 2016, 'Scottish' salmon farms have imported 110.6 million ova from Stofnfiskur (Benchmark). Will @scotgov now close the border? pic.twitter.com/xOJO5tuUv2

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 29, 2021

 

 

 

Read more via:

• ISA hits Scottish Sea Farms owner SalMar in Norway - how many hidden cases are lurking on salmon farms in Scotland?
• Letter to Scottish Ministers calling for a ban on ova imports from Iceland
• Revealed: Infectious Salmon Anaemia Lurking in Scottish Salmon
• Scottish Ministers with Egg on Their Faces - is it game ova for imports of salmon eggs from Iceland & Norway?
• Scottish Scamon Eggsposé: The Foreign Companies Importing Over 320 Million Salmon Eggs (Ova) Into 'Scottish' Fish Farms Since 2016!
• Press Statement: Ban All Ova Imports to Protect 'Scottish' Salmon!
• ISA in Iceland - will Scotland ban ova imports to prevent disease risks as with Norway?
• Mowi fined for breaching ISA laws in Norway - is ISA lurking at Mowi salmon farms in Scotland?
• Top story on Intrafish reports on ISA at Scottish Sea Farms!
• Salmon Farming is Like the Black Death Plague!
• Mowi's Mortality Nigthmare - Farmed Salmon is Dead in the Water!
• "Activist challenged over claim about fish virus" (Fish Farming Expert)
• Breaking News: ISA reported at RSPCA Assured Scottish Sea Farms on the Isle of Mull
• Damning Disease Report for RSPCA Assured Scottish Sea Farms in Loch Spelve
• Letter to Scottish Ministers re. ISA in Scottish Salmon
• Media Backgrounder: Scottish Salmon’s Recurring ISA Nightmare
• Media Backgrounder: Norway’s Infectious Salmon Aquacalypse – Going Global Since 1984!
• Norway's Infectious Salmon "Horror Show" Secretly Playing Now In Scotland?
• Norwegian Salmon Egg Exports Banned Due to Disease Risks