Lerøy Hydrotech AS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lerøy Seafood Group ASA and is involved in the production of salmon in the region of Nordmøre. The company has detected PD in one of its facilities.
The company has followed a stringent strategy for prevention of the spread of PD from South to Central Norway and is the main driver behind the establishment of the "Nordmøre model" and the "Stop PD Group" in Central Norway. As such, the aquaculture industry in Central Norway has developed a comprehensive system for monitoring and screening fish in order to detect disease at an early stage.
On 30 November, the company was notified of a low yet positive result for PD virus in 8 of 20 fish from the Kråkøya facility in the municipality of Aure. The result came about from a routine check carried out by the company's fish health personnel. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority was notified, according to procedure. A new batch of fish was taken for more detailed analysis on 1 December.
The analyses executed by the Food Safety Authority have now been issued and indicate the presence of the PD virus in the Kråkøya facility. However, the fish show no external signs of the disease and there has been no increase in mortality.
As part of the company's strategy to fight PD in the region and in order to prevent spread of the disease to other production in the area, the company, in cooperation with the Food Safety Authority, will evaluate slaughtering the entire biomass during the next couple of weeks.
The fish stock at the Kråkøya facility totals around 1,192 tons with a book value of NOK 33 million.
Contact person:
Chairman of the Board for Lerøy Hydrotech AS, Stig Nilsen.
Email: stig@leroy.no mobile: + 47 91395839
or CEO of the Lerøy Seafood Group, Henning Beltestad,
Email: hb@leroy.no mobile: + 47 91143545