Shellfish farmer faces hefty bill after losing net washing compensation case

A Norwegian shellfish and sea urchin company that blamed fish farm net washing for a mussel die-off in 2019 has been ordered to pay NOK 3.5 million (£249,000) in legal costs after losing a compensation claim in court, newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad reports.

Brynjar Berg, owner of Lysefjorden Skjell og Kråkeboller (Lysefjord Shell and Sea Urchins), or LSK for short, had demanded compensation of NOK 20-50 million from Cargill Innovation Centre Dirdal and Rogaland Fjordbruk AS after he discovered large quantities of dead mussels at his site in the autumn of 2019. He linked this to the fact that the farming companies had frequently flushed their cages to remove biofouling.

The South Rogaland District Court concluded in a recent ruling that it is unlikely that emissions from the fish farms caused the mussel deaths and a reduction in the sea urchin population.

Lacked documentation

The court pointed out that the distance between LSK and the facilities was large (8-10 kilometres), which would result in a significant dilution of any potential emissions. The court also noted that LSK lacked sufficient documentation of the damages.

Stavanger Aftenblad cites in its article a report from the Institute of Marine Research, which states “in narrow fjords with poor water exchange, the contribution can periodically be up to 1 microgram per litre, according to the institute's report from January 2023”.

The same report classes coastal water with levels of copper in the range between 0.3 and 2.6 micrograms per litre as "good condition" and says that it is a concentration that does not produce any measurable effect, so-called PNEC (Predicted no effect concentration).

Berg told the newspaper that he will appeal the verdict.