I've copied and pasted some relevant info from the CTV article:
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111104/bc_salmon_virus_111104?hub=BritishColumbiaHome"Infectious salmon virus suspected in B.C. again"
Peter Robson (author of the book "Salmon Farming: The Whole Story") said clear test results showing the virus is present are now critical.
For years, critics have been blaming fish farms for declining stocks, but haven't been able to prove any permanent damage, he said.
He said confirmation of the virus could be "one of the smoking guns in the salmon farming debate" and "may be a big problem."
"Is it a game changer? It would be a game changer if it was sourced to aquaculture," said Tony Farrell, a professor in the University of British Columbia's department of zoology.
But Farrell said scientists need to confirm where the virus originated, adding people "are jumping to conclusions as to the source of it."
"I think if ISA is now around, we need to be worried about ISA," he said.
Daniel Pauly, a professor and director of UBC's fisheries centre, has been watching the debate since he came to B.C. in 1994 and said a piece of the province's culture is at stake.
"What is at stake is actually wild salmon," he said. "In Europe there is almost no wild salmon left. So there is not so much of a risk. In B.C., the wild salmon are huge and iconic in the province."
Pauly said he suspects the virus has come from the industry because millions of Atlantic salmon eggs have been imported to British Columbia.
The emergence of ISA, he said, has been inevitable, even though some have argued the probability was low, said Pauly.
He called for a contingency plan to be developed.
According to B.C.'s Ministry of Environment, the province's salmon farming industry is the fourth largest producer of farmed salmon in the world, and in 2009, 18 companies operated on 131 sites.