Three Atlantic Sapphire workers overcome by fumes, hospitalized

Three workers at Atlantic Sapphire’s land-based salmon farm in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. were hospitalized on Tuesday, 13 March, after being overcome by fumes.

Miami-area emergency services responded to a 911 call from Atlantic Sapphire’s recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farm and took three employees to the hospital, according to CBS Miami. The employees were pulled from a large fish tank at the farm by their coworkers before emergency personnel arrived. All three were listed in serious condition.

Miami-Dade Fire Chief Jason Richard said the workers were doing routine maintenance in the tank when a release of an unknown gas triggered the emergency.

“They were in there in one of these tanks used to raise fish for routine maintenance and there was some type of fume released and they were overcome by it,” he said.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Miami-Dade Police Department are investigating the incident, the TV news station reported.

Photo courtesy of Atlantic Sapphire