Clean up underway after 1,000 litres of bio diesel spills at B.C. fish farm

The company that owns the site, Cermaq Canada, issued a statement that said its records show up to 1,500 litres was spilled. (Photo: Aquaculture/ Facebook)

PORT HARDY, B.C.—Coast guard officials say crews are working to clean up a fuel spill at a fish farm off Vancouver Island’s north coast.

The federal fisheries department says the coast guard received a report early Sunday morning about a spill from a fuel tank at an Atlantic salmon aquaculture site in Echo Bay, about 70 kilometres east of Port Hardy.

The statement says an estimated 900 to 1,000 litres of bio diesel overflowed into the water when a fuel pump was left on overnight.

The company that owns the site, Cermaq Canada, issued a statement that said its records show up to 1,500 litres was spilled.

Staff at the fish farm put out absorbent pads to soak up the fuel, and most of the spill is contained in the fish pens, but Cermaq says the fish are showing “normal behaviour.

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The coast guard, officials from the ministry of environment, and a marine clean-up company are responding to the spill.

The statement says clean-up is on-going.