Recent bad weather has torn through aquaculture equipment at Liopetri, releasing large numbers of farmed sea bass and bream into the open sea, Cyprus’s Fisheries Department said on Wednesday.
Officials are awaiting full damage reports from producers, but cautioned that calculating exact losses would be extremely difficult given that each fish farm holds millions of fish.
The incident follows a near-annual pattern of storm damage to Cyprus fish farms, which each time draws large numbers of recreational anglers to both the Liopetri coastline and Vasiliko — home to the island’s largest fish farm.
Size limits reminder
With escaped fish now in open waters, the Fisheries Department urged anglers to observe minimum size regulations for the two species. Sea bass must be at least 25 centimetres to be legally caught; bream, at least 20 centimetres.
Both species are among the most popular targets for Cypriot recreational fishermen.
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