Two rainbow trout were caught in Arctic char and salmon fishing rivers in North Iceland, last weekend, one in Eyjafjarðará on Friday and the other in Fljótaá on Sunday, which are believed to have escaped from marine pens.
“It’s as if some pranksters planted them there. We just come here to enjoy the sustainable Icelandic nature and then we find these interlopers. We don’t appreciate it,” angler Erlendur Steinar Friðriksson commented to ruv.is.
Rainbow trout only exist in fish farms in Iceland but are also released into lakes for hobby fishing. They have been caught in rivers in Iceland before but never in Eyjafjarðará.
Erlendur stated the fish most likely escaped from marine pens. “Farmed fish can swim up to 2,000 kilometers before entering rivers and wreaking havoc there.”
Erlendur is concerned about plans for an 8,000-ton salmon farm off Dysnes in Eyjafjörður fjord. “Within a swimming distance of 120 kilometers there are 20 fishing rivers. Salmon always escapes from marine pens. It’s an undisputed fact.”
