21 July 2023 16:17 – Updated 21 July 2023 16:17
– We are almost losing control, says Vadsø municipality about the bird flu outbreak. Just until lunchtime on Friday, they collected 895 dead birds.
– It is far too much. It dies away so much that we almost lose control, says operations manager Pål Johnsen in Vadsø municipality to NTB.
On Friday afternoon, he was in a meeting with the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, FHI and other municipalities affected by the bird flu outbreak in northern Norway.
– We received confirmation that the responsibility for clearing away the dead birds lies with us in the municipality. So far we have concentrated on the areas where most people and tourists travel. But we assume that the hidden figures are large, says Johnsen.
The municipality has asked for help to search through large parts of the coast, areas that are too large for them to manage on their own.
– We will probably have to ask the Civil Defense for help over the weekend, he says.
– Huge height
The bird flu outbreak has affected large parts of northern Norway, and especially eastern Finnmark.
Johnsen describes the scenes unfolding in Vadsø as “absolutely violent”.
Since last Friday, the municipality has had between three and eight employees working all day collecting the dead birds.
In total, they have picked 4,000-5,000 dead seagulls of the endangered species krikkje. Just in the 2.5 hours until lunchtime on Friday, five employees have picked up 895 dead seagulls
– These are enormous numbers, says Johnsen.
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority: Several thousand
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority informs NTB that they currently do not have any national figures on how many dead birds the municipalities have collected along the Finnmark coast.
– We are talking about several thousand. This applies in particular to terns, but also to other gull species, says managing director Ingunn Midttun Godal of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to NTB.
She says that they collaborate with other authorities to help the municipalities in the hardest-hit areas.
– We provide advice and guidance on infection prevention, as well as collection, storage, shipping and destruction of dead birds, says Godal.
In close dialogue with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority
So far, the daily number of dead birds in Vadsø municipality has remained more or less stable after the outbreak started.
On Thursday, the municipality picked over 700 dead seagulls, 600 of them in the area around Storelva.
– We hope that the numbers will drop sharply. We are watching with horror and horror how this will go if we are going to continue to pick up around 1,000 dead crutches every single day.
According to Large Norwegian encyclopedia is the latest population estimate for terns on mainland Norway from 2015 and is 87,000 breeding pairs.
– We do not have the knowledge or expertise to do anything more than collect these dead seagulls. We are in close dialogue with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the State Administrator and FHI when it comes to safety, says the operations manager.
– Feeling things
One of those working to pick the dead seagulls is Adrian Johnsen. He has a summer job in the municipality, and was actually supposed to cut grass and maintain municipal buildings.
– Suddenly this came up, and I was asked if this was something I could imagine doing, he tells NTB.
Every day he and the other bird pickers put on full protective gear and go out to collect dead birds with tweezers.
– These are terrible things. These birds are already threatened with extinction, and then this comes, he says.
Birds suffer
He explains that there have been fewer dead birds in the areas where they have been and worked.
After a week of working, he has become used to it. Although it can be both strange and uncomfortable.
– We see that there are more birds living next to the dead, who are suffering. They move a little, and try to flap a little. But they are so sick that they cannot do it. It is clear that it is a disgusting sight, he says.
2023-07-21 14:17:29
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