A fish farming company in Australia has lost thousands of fish from one of its facilities for the second time in less than six months.
According to a report from ABC, storms and high tides caused severe damage to Marine Harvest's Barramundi cage farm off the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory, which has resulted in 100 tonnes of the fish escaping into the wild.
Back in September, we reported that the same company had lost another 100 tonnes of Barramundi at its farm off Bathurst Island in the Northern Territory.
Northern Territory Environment Centre official Peter Robertson told ABC that the escapees threaten wild populations of fish.
"When they're in large numbers like this they can have a very significant impact on naturally occurring populations of target species that they like to eat and also on other Barramundi."
ABC says that fisheries officers have visited the farm to assess the damage and said that the majority of the fish have been swept out to sea and several holding cages have been retrieved from a sandbar.
The department says that the environmental impact in the short-term is likely to be minimal and the escaped fish do not pose a disease threat to the Northern Territory's native stocks.
Robertson told ABC that he does not have a problem with the aquaculture industry as long as environmental safeguards are put in place.
"There are not adequate environmental impact assessment processes in relation to aquaculture.
"The legislation that covers aquaculture projects is totally inadequate. There are just major, major flaws in the way aquaculture projects are being allowed to develop in the Northern Territory," he told the news agency.