Salmon virus a potential issue

Aquaculture is big on both coasts of Canada, but it appears some wild salmon in British Columbia and a number of farmed Atlantic salmon are testing positive for a lethal virus, according to a professor at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island.

Beginning in October 2011, Dr. Fred Kibenge’s lab found that examples of both species of salmon testing positive for segments of the Infectious Salmon Anemia virus (ISAv), a deadly disease associated with salmon farming worldwide.

Despite Kibenge’s findings, federal and provincial government officials reported they could not detect the virus in B.C., and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ordered an audit of Dr. Kibenge’s lab.

The CIFA later suspended the lab’s status.

The virus is still a potential issue, according to the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF).

“It’s been a problem on the east coast for sure,” said the ASF’s Sue Scott.

“It has certainly been around for a long time, and has devastated the industry in New Brunswick in 1996, and has followed the industry in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland,” she said.

The problem is overcrowding in salmon cages, she added.

“Wherever the ISA comes from, it is exasperated in the cages, like flu spreading in a classroom.”

Scott said there is a better way of growing salmon within closed containers. There are entrepreneurs that are switching to closed containment for salmon, but she said the method isn’t in Newfoundland yet.

(ISAv) is a naturally occurring virus that is sometimes found at salmon aquaculture sites throughout the world, and has been found in some Newfoundland and Labrador sites in the past.

But the risk of ISAv is mitigated by using biosecurity measures, according to a spokesperson for the provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

The department stated ISAv is not harmful to humans. According to department officials, there is no risk to human health through consumption or contact with the fish.

When aquaculture operators identify a potential fish health issue, added the spokesperson, they work with their veterinarian to con- duct further research and address the situation.

There is a publicly-funded centre at St. Alban’s, the $8-million Centre for Aquaculture Health and Development, which focuses on animal health, testing and monitoring.

— TC Media file photo These fish wait at a viewing area on the Exploits River as they are counted moving along the salmon ladder. They are wild salmon, and therefore unlikely to get a virus often associated with farmed fish.