Regrettably, media coverage of salmon fishing in Iceland mainly focuses on farmed fish found and caught in renowned rivers. There was extensive news coverage and preparedness in response to farmed salmon being caught and observed in the river Haukadalsá. Initially, it was thought that there were many farmed salmon in the river. However, it was later discovered that some of them were actually Pink salmon (Humpbacks). The salmon that were identified as farmed are believed to have originated from Arctic Fish sea-cages.
Farmed salmon have also been observed in the rivers Vatnsdalsá, Miðfjarðará, Hrútafjarðará, and Helluá in Skagafjörður. The Miðfjarðará Fishing Club and its leaseholders built a rock embankment in the lower part of the river to stop farmed salmon from entering the river. Shortly after, salmon was caught in the area, which was later confirmed to have originated from sea cage farming, indicating the success of the initiative.
Experienced Norwegian divers from Skandinavisk Naturovervåkning were brought to Iceland to survey a few rivers. It was discovered that there were fewer farmed salmon than initially believed. They identified 6 salmon in Haukadalsá and caught 4 of them. They also visited the rivers Búðardalsá, Miðfjarðará, Vatnsdalsá, and Hrútafjarðará. Nothing was found in the first three rivers, but in Hrútafjarðará, they caught 5 farmed salmon.
This is a serious situation that could escalate. We just need to wait and see!
Image/the rock embankment that was made in river Miðfjarðará.
A summary made by Veiðiheimar, from news feed from mbl.is/Sporðaköst and veidar.is