Island Life: News From The Icelandic Countryside

A salmon that was caught in the Laugardalsá river in the Westfjords bears all the signs of being an escaped farmed fish that found its way into the wild. The fish likely escaped custody in the summer of 2016. One of the clues that points to its being a fugitive from a fish farm is the obstructions in its bowels, which come from being vaccinated. Fish escaping from farm pens can have devastating effects on the local fish stocks, but it is unknown at this time if the escapee has wreaked any havoc.

If you’re looking for a job in Iceland, you might want to look into the southern town of Vík. There, they had to send playschool children home due to a shortage of staff. Part of what complicates matters is that there’s also a housing shortage in Vík. So your choices are to either get lucky enough to find a room for rent in the village, or take a really long commute from Reykjavík.

Flooding in east Iceland has not only been bad for the infrastructure, blocking and in some cases completely washing out roads; Icelandic farmers have also been having a hard time of it. Many sheep have been rescued, but many others are feared to have drowned. As a silver lining to the whole situation, though, the ferry Lagarfljótsormurinn, which had been in dry dock for years, set sail again in Lagarfljót Lake near Egilsstaðir to rescue the stranded animals.