Danish angling bonanza: 80,000 trout set free by accident

Danish anglers are rushing to a western Denmark fjord to catch some of the up to 80,000 farmed rainbow trout that have been accidentally released into Danish waters, hoping to keep them from upsetting the area's ecological balance.

A cargo ship on Monday accidentally tore apart a fish farm net off Assens, 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Copenhagen in the western Baltic Sea. Now authorities fear the farmed trout will eat the eggs of other trout species.

Soeren Knabe of the environmental group Vandpleje Fyn is urging anglers to "grab their rods and catch as many as possible. I'll join them this weekend."

Knabe said Wednesday the rip happened "at the worst time" because sea trout "are about to spawn and their eggs are 'yummy' for rainbow trout."