|
THE Canadian fish farming debate has been set alight again after reports that infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) has been found in wild salmon on the Pacific Coast.
The discovery was made by Professor Rick Routledge of the Simon Fraser University. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency had been notified of the findings.
Two years ago a similar infection took a heavy toll on Chile’s fish farms and has also affected farms in Scotland and Norway.The researchers, from the Simon Fraser University, told a press conference that the virus had been found in two out of 48 juvenile fish they examined. The study was undertaken after scientists observed a fall in the number of young sockeye salmon.
Experts say that Atlantic salmon are significantly more susceptible to the multiple strains of ISA than their Pacific counterparts so salmon populations could experience less serious effects. They are also trying to establish how ISA which could have only come from the farmed salmon on the Atlantic side reached across to the West Coast.
The British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association, said fish health departments had regularly tested for the virus on the farms and have never found a positive case. But the industry has warned that if the tests do eventually prove positive it could pose a serious threat to the business.
Further North in Alaska, where the importation of farmed salmon is prohibited, officials are saying that its salmon is relatively safe from the infection, adding there was no reason to panic.
Should people be 'stimulated' to eat white fish alternatives to cod?
