"Marine Harvest takes the incident very seriously. We acknowledge that escapes can have a negative impact on wild salmon, and we have a goal of zero escapes," Marte Grindaker, a spokeswoman for the company, told Al Jazeera.

In addition to setting out nets in the surrounding area and immediately repairing the damaged cage, Marine Harvest has contacted local fisherman to offer them a cash incentive for help recovering the fish.

But Grindaker said that, as far as she knew, no fish had yet been returned and that the total number of escapees was unknown.