The David Suzuki Foundation is calling for changes to salmon farming after the recent virus outbreak at a fish farm on the Sunshine Coast of Canada.
The Foundation’s Jay Ritchlin says fish need to be farmed in a way that won’t damage the environment. He believes the current open-net caged system allows disease, parasites, waste and diseased fish to enter the wild environment freely.
“It says to us just how impossible it is to completely control diseases and parasites going in and out of open-net caged salmon farms,” Ritchlin notes. “For us, it’s another indication that for the good of the industry and the good of the environment, we need to move to closed-containment systems to grow these kinds of fish.”
“Closed-containment allows the farmer to be the one to pay for taking care of [the salmon] instead of the environment paying to do that,” he adds.
Last week tests confirmed an outbreak of the IHN virus at Grieg Seafoods Culloden Point fish farm in Jervis Inlet.
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