At a rest stop near Målselva outside Bardufoss, Johannes Nytrøen was greeted by a less pleasant view.

He is responsible for monitoring the river and was therefore sent a video of someone who passed by there.

Nytrøen came to inspect. There, he found the remains of four to five humpback salmon that some fishermen had discarded on the ground – right next to a well-used hook.

Numerous larvae had settled on the carcasses.

– The remains were rotten and full of fly larvae. It smelled like shit and rotten fish, says Nytrøen.

It was Northern Lights who was the first to report this horrible discovery.

Not the first time

Nytrøen removes the fish remains, but despairs that others won’t do it themselves.

– The particularity here is that the remains were right next to the fishermen’s hook, and they did not throw other waste there. This illustrates what happens when you don’t take your trash with you, he points out.

The rotting fish was full of fly larvae, produced when flies lay their eggs. The little caterpillars multiply quickly and continue until there is no more to eat.

– It is the natural way of eliminating waste. But here it happened because of human behavior, says Nytrøen.

This is not the first time Nytrøen has encountered rotting fish along the river. However, he emphasizes that this is not a major problem in the region, since it is Finnmark which is hardest hit by the humpback salmon problem.

– Super bad

Chuk salmon is an exotic species in Norway and can cause damage to local fish species and natural diversity. This is why it is blacklisted and the Norwegian Environment Agency has devoted considerable resources to removing unwanted fish.

Large-scale project

Several of Finnmark’s rivers with the highest salmon populations were closed this summer in an attempt to stop humpback salmon. There are 32 rivers equipped with traps to combat humpback salmon.

The Norwegian Environment Agency’s overview on Thursday shows that more than 100,000 humpback salmon have been caught in Norwegian rivers so far this year.

– This shows how effective the measures have been. The people who work with the traps have made an impressive effort. The system has worked so far and we are very satisfied, the director of the Norwegian Environment Agency, Jarle Steinkjer, told Dagbladet.

Several volunteers contribute to the humpback salmon hunt. Local fishing associations also received funds to employ people on the project, through contracts with the State Administrator of Troms and Finnmark.

Steinkjer emphasizes that it is positive that there are few humpback salmon south of Troms.

– We feared an invasion of the whole country, he said.

The Norwegian Environment Agency is also working on developing trapping methods in larger rivers.