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[chris gadsden]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/federal-inspection-agency-confirms-salmon-virus-at-nova-scotia-fish-farm-141826523.html

Federal inspection agency confirms salmon virus at Nova Scotia fish farm
By: Melanie Patten, The Canadian Press

Greg Lambert, freshwater production manager for Cooke Aquaculture, poses with a 24-pound female Atlantic salmon at a hatchery in Bingham, Maine, in 2008. Salmon THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Robert F. Bukaty
HALIFAX - A Maritime aquaculture company says it is taking the outbreak of a salmon virus at one of its Nova Scotia fish farms seriously.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed Wednesday that infectious salmon anemia has been found at a facility in the province. The agency declined to name the operation, citing privacy concerns.

However, a spokeswoman for Cooke Aquaculture said the virus was discovered at the company's operation in Shelburne Harbour.

"We don't take this lightly," Nell Halse said from the company's headquarters in Saint John, N.B.

"No farmer wants to lose any of their animals to a virus or to a disease. This is never good news for a farmer."

The federal inspection agency said the virus does not affect human health or food safety. It can, however, kill up to 90 per cent of infected fish depending on the strain.

Joanne Constantine, national manager for the agency's aquatic animal health division, said measures are being taken to prevent further spread of the disease. Pens, cages and equipment will be disinfected and testing will continue on the rest of the salmon at the facility.

"We'll monitor the farm's mortality rate, sampling fish, looking for signs of disease to inform us as to what's happening with the farm going forward," Constantine said from Ottawa.

The agency began taking samples after Cooke Aquaculture reported a possible outbreak last month. The company said it destroyed two cages of fish after routine testing raised concerns.

Constantine said the agency will order that a third cage be destroyed with compensation paid to the company. If more cases of salmon anemia are discovered, the agency said more fish could be destroyed.

Halse said she did not know when the third cage would be destroyed.

"In an ideal world, that proactive measure will protect the rest of the farm, but we also know that we can't assume that," she said.

"There's heightened biosecurity on the farm and our hope is that we will be able to grow the rest of the fish out as healthy fish until they reach market size."

The company remains under quarantine. Constantine said there is no timeline on when the quarantine will end.

"When the fish are eventually harvested and the site is cleaned and disinfected, (if) the CFIA is satisfied that the risk of disease no longer exists, then the quarantine will be lifted," she said.

There are 13 salmon farming operations in Nova Scotia. Cooke Aquaculture operates nine of them, including two in Digby County, and four in the Shelburne Harbour and McNutts Island areas.

Halse could not say what the loss of the salmon would have on the company's bottom line. She said discussions surrounding compensation were ongoing with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

She said the company has dealt with salmon anemia in New Brunswick in the past.

Opponents of the aquaculture industry have expressed concerns that the presence of salmon anemia could link wild salmon decline with fish farms.

The source of the disease remains unknown. Critics of salmon farms blame the industry, but the industry vigorously contests the allegations.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the disease is known to exist in the waters off Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

[alwaysfishn]

How could this be???            

I'm sure I read somewhere that just a few months ago the experts at CFIA along with DFO and the fish feedlots were denying that ISA exists in Canada! I believe they also threw a few of their own scientists under the bus when they said their tests had already shown that ISA was found.......   and now they are admitting ISA is here? What happened to the PR war that they were so valiantly fighting? Couldn't they make ISA go away by just redoing the tests using different scientists?   

On a positive note there should be some good sales on some yummy farmed salmon in your local grocery stores.....   

[Easywater]

Halse could not say what the loss of the salmon would have on the company's bottom line.
She said discussions surrounding compensation were ongoing with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

What does that mean?

[troutbreath]

Constantine said the agency will order that a third cage be destroyed with compensation paid to the company. If more cases of salmon anemia are discovered, the agency said more fish could be destroyed.

It means that you and I as taxpayers will have to compensate the company for trying to wipe out Atlantic Salmon with disease.

[alwaysfishn]

It means that you and I as taxpayers will have to compensate the company for trying to wipe out Atlantic Salmon with disease.

That seems fair, because it was we as taxpayers who allowed the fish farms to be put into the water in the first place.   I can't imagine what the cost to the taxpayer will be when they have to start decontaminating the fish farms located on the west coast....

[Easywater]

Constantine said the agency will order that a third cage be destroyed with compensation paid to the company. If more cases of salmon anemia are discovered, the agency said more fish could be destroyed.

It means that you and I as taxpayers will have to compensate the company for trying to wipe out Atlantic Salmon with disease.

Thanks, missed that the first time through.

[troutbreath]

Nova Scotia minister downplays salmon virus
Nova Scotia fish minister says salmon virus outbreak a 'normal business day'
Reported by Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
Posted Mar 8, 2012 4:30pm

Change text size: + - HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's fisheries minister is facing sharp criticism for suggesting Thursday that a recent viral outbreak at a large fish farm is just a routine part of the aquaculture business.

Asked about the outbreak of infectious salmon anemia at a Cooke Aquaculture operation in Shelburne Harbour, N.S., Sterling Belliveau said: "It's a normal business day, and these particular incidents are being managed in an appropriate fashion."

Rob Johnson, aquaculture co-ordinator for the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre, said Belliveau's comments show he's ill-informed and irresponsible.

"That's reprehensible," Johnson said in an interview. "We've seen this virus break out in New Brunswick, it's wiped out the industry in Chile and it's a tremendous threat to the marine ecosystem."

Johnson said the virus could be spread to wild Atlantic salmon, which are already an endangered species.

"This is yet another one that we should be extra vigilant against it," he said. "If (Belliveau) is making light of it by suggesting this is normal business activity, he's ill-informed."

Johnson also said industrial fish farms pose a threat to the lobster fishery because they attract parasitic sea lice.

Infectious salmon anemia first appeared at fish farms in Norway almost two decades ago, then in New Brunswick and later Scotland.

In the late 1990s, New Brunswick salmon farmers slaughtered more than a million fish amid an outbreak. The federal government paid out tens of millions of dollars to settle compensation claims.

The virus was discovered in farmed Nova Scotia salmon as early as 1999, but in much smaller numbers.

Belliveau stressed the virus poses no threat to human health, and he insisted that the early detection and monitoring of the latest case will help stop the spread of the chronic disease.

The virus can kill up to 90 per cent of the salmon it infects, depending on the strain. It attacks the kidneys of salmon and causes discolouration.

"There's no effect on the traditional fishing industry," Belliveau said after a cabinet meeting in Halifax. "I can reassure you, based on the scientific information, that there's no effect on the lobster industry. Human health is not in question.

"This is part of life."

Cooke Aquaculture, based in Blacks Harbour, N.B., said last Friday it had destroyed all the salmon in two underwater cages in Shelburne Harbour after routine testing found suspected cases of infectious salmon anemia on Feb. 10.

Spokeswoman Nell Halse said salmon in a third cage tested positive this week and they, too, will be killed and shipped to a secure compost facility. She would not say how many fish are in each cage, but she said the facility has about 20 cages.

All three cages will remain empty until all of the salmon at the farm are harvested, she said.

"We are doing a very good surveillance, both the company and the government, and we caught this early," she said in an interview from Saint John, N.B.

Halse said the outbreak was "just a part of farming."

She also challenged Johnson's assertions, saying there's no evidence the virus poses a threat to wild salmon. As proof, she said New Brunswick's many battles with the disease did not have an impact on wild fish stocks.

As well, Halse said Cooke Aquaculture has never had to deal with sea lice in Nova Scotia, and there's no evidence that the parasites have affected lobster near the company's facilities in New Brunswick.

Halse said the company plans to move ahead with major plans for expansion.

Roland Cusack, Nova Scotia's fish health veterinarian, said there are no large populations of wild Atlantic salmon in the area because the rivers that empty into Shelburne Harbour are very acidic.

"We've heightened our surveillance across the province," he said, adding that seven of the province's 13 fish farms have been tested for the virus. The seven farms are spread along Nova Scotia's coast, from St. Margarets Bay in the east to St. Marys Bay in the west.

"I'm confident that a lot of good management is in place to prevent the spread," he said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was unavailable for comment.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation has said early detection is the key to containing the disease.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2011
National

[chris gadsden]

"In the late 1990s, New Brunswick salmon farmers slaughtered more than a million fish amid an outbreak. The federal government paid out tens of millions of dollars to settle compensation claims".

This does not make sense to me why our taxpayer dollars should be bailing these guys out. Are they not making enough money to make up for this lose?

[alwaysfishn]

"In the late 1990s, New Brunswick salmon farmers slaughtered more than a million fish amid an outbreak. The federal government paid out tens of millions of dollars to settle compensation claims".

This does not make sense to me why our taxpayer dollars should be bailing these guys out. Are they not making enough money to make up for this lose?

Good question!  Grain farmers need to buy crop insurance to protect themselves in the event of a loss, no government bailouts for them, I doubt the feedlots have bought any type of ISAv insurance.

[Dave]

"In the late 1990s, New Brunswick salmon farmers slaughtered more than a million fish amid an outbreak. The federal government paid out tens of millions of dollars to settle compensation claims".

This does not make sense to me why our taxpayer dollars should be bailing these guys out. Are they not making enough money to make up for this lose?

Well, figure in what it costs Canadian taxpayers to compensate avian/swine flu virus affected poultry/pork producers across Canada; then add in mad cow disease monitoring programs for beef production in every province … big bucks.
 As has been mentioned, the cost of this cull of Atlantics in Nova Scotia is peanuts compared to other animal husbandry efforts and yeah, is part of producing product in confined spaces.
Think of strawberry farmers in the Fraser Valley where we live … if conditions are not optimal, crops fail and guess what … compensation is often available to these farmers.
Right or wrong, compensation for failure seems to be a Canadian fact of life. Think of the Leafs  

[chris gadsden]

Well, figure in what it costs Canadian taxpayers to compensate avian/swine flu virus affected poultry/pork producers across Canada; then add in mad cow disease monitoring programs for beef production in every province … big bucks.
 As has been mentioned, the cost of this cull of Atlantics in Nova Scotia is peanuts compared to other animal husbandry efforts and yeah, is part of producing product in confined spaces.
Think of strawberry farmers in the Fraser Valley where we live … if conditions are not optimal, crops fail and guess what … compensation is often available to these farmers.
Right or wrong, compensation for failure seems to be a Canadian fact of life. Think of the Leafs  

Well I am glad when they are gone so one less thing we have to pay for as most are foreign owned.

As far as the Leafs go we are one of the richest teams in the NHL.

[troutbreath]

For one I don't see "farming" Salmon that are diseased, and a threat to our naive species needs to be compensated. Mad cow is probably why we have such apathy towards the problem.

I would not consider strawberry plants in the same train of thought. Same goes for swine or bird fllues. There is lots of gey areas in terms of compensation though. Some farmers do deserve to be compensated.

[chris gadsden]

For one I don't see "farming" Salmon that are diseased, and a threat to our naive species needs to be compensated. Mad cow is probably why we have such apathy towards the problem.

I would not consider strawberry plants in the same train of thought. Same goes for swine or bird fllues. There is lots of gey areas in terms of compensation though. Some farmers do deserve to be compensated.

No matter what info we provide them with the pro's will have an answer to every thing.