Fishermen in the US have been issued a free pass after nets containing 305,000 farmed Atlantic salmon were damaged in the lead up to Monday’s solar eclipse.
Although the exact number of escapees is unknown, conservative estimates put it between 3,000 and 5,000 fish, although this could be much higher.
Exceptionally high tides and strong currents caused by the eclipse were blamed for the breakout, which occurred after the collapse one of the farm’s net pens.
It is feared that large numbers of the non-native species could wreak havoc on the local marine ecology.
Fishermen in the US have been issued a free pass, after nets containing 305,000 farmed Atlantic salmon were damaged in the lead up to Monday’s solar eclipse. It is feared that the non-native species could wreak havoc on the local marine ecology (stock image)
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has urged the public to snare as many of the creatures as possible, after the escape at Cooke Aquaculture fish farm near Cypress Island, Washington state.
Anchor lines to the pens broke on Saturday afternoon, according to reports in The Seattle Times.
This meant that walkways used to access the pens became unsafe and employees were unable get in the water to assess the extent of the damage.
The net contained around three million pounds (1.6 million kg) of fish at the time.
High tides during the solar eclipse were within the top five per cent of the year’s largest tides in some US coastal locations.
High and low tides are influenced by the sun and moon’s gravitational pulls.
During the eclipse, the sun and moon’s perfect alignment allows the sun to enhance the moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth, creating larger tides.
In a written statement Ron Warren, head of WDFW’s fish program, said: ‘Our first concern, of course, is to protect native fish species.
‘So we’d like to see as many of these escaped fish caught as possible.
‘It will be some time before we know how many fish escaped the net pens.
‘That’s why we’ve authorized Cooke Aquaculture to fish with beach seine nets and we’re encouraging anglers to go out and harvest these fish.’
Atlantic Salmon are (Salmo salar) are not native to Washington state, but are occasionally found in its waters.
They are commercially grown in sea-water net pens in Puget Sound and in some freshwater hatcheries as well.
Exceptionally high tides and strong currents in the lead up to Mondays’s solar eclipse (pictured) were blamed for the breakout, which occurred after the collapse one of the farm’s net pens
Occasionally some of these fish will escape from their holding pens and may be caught by anglers in fresh or saltwater.
They grow to an average size of 28 to 30 inches (71 to 76 cm) and weight eight to 12 lbs (3.6 to 5.4 kg) after two years at sea.
They feature large black spots on the gill cover, large scales, large spots on their back and rarely any spots on their tail fin.
They have no red stripe along their lateral line, unlike other species, and the lower jaw is hooked on mature males
Farmed Atlantic salmon’s dorsal, ventral and tail fins may be eroded or worn from containment in net pens.
The escape took place at Cooke Aquaculture fish farm near Cypress Island, Washington state (pictured)
HOW DID OTHER ANIMALS REACT TO THE SOLAR ECLIPSE?
Monday’s solar eclipse provided a unique opportunity to observe the celestial wonder’s impact on the natural world.
Users of the iNaturalist app were encouraged to record their observations during and after totality, according to reports in Live Science.
Rebecca Johnson, citizen science research director at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, helped to gather this data and sort through it.
More than 500 people made around 2,100 observations of approximately 350 different species.
Among them were household pets, including dogs who joined their owners in watching the eclipse reacting to eclipse.
Monday’s solar eclipse provided a unique opportunity to observe the celestial wonder’s impact on the natural world. Bird behaviour was affected, with a noticeable change in singing and huge formations spotted flying through the sky (stock image)
Cats were also said to be ‘spooked’ by the event, although Dr Johnson cautioned that the behaviour of cats is less transparent than that of dogs.
Domestic chickens reacted to the sky darkening, but were more strongly impacted by temperature than light and displayed evening grooming behaviour.
Horses were also reportedly spooked by the eclipse.
Insects became very vocal in the leadup to totality, before becoming silent during the main event.
Large fish like bass, who feed early in the morning and evening, began to surface.
Bird behaviour was affected, with a noticeable change in singing and huge formations spotted flying through the sky.
Day blooming flowers, like morning glories, were also seen to close their petals as they would at night, reopening once the sunshine returned.