A third B.C. fish farm is under quarantine after a virus deadly to farmed salmon was detected on a site owned by Mainstream Canada.
The company says fish have tested positive for infectious hematopoietic necrosis, or IHN, at its Bawden Point farm near Herbert Inlet, north of Tofino.
Mainstream said it plans to harvest the salmon “as soon as possible†because they are mature and ready for market.
The virus is not harmful to humans.
It is endemic to wild Pacific fish, but attacks the kidneys and spleen of the Atlantic farmed salmon and can lead to rotting flesh and organ failure.
No fish have died at Bawden from the disease, the company said, in a statement, late Friday.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been notified of the test results and the agency has quarantined the farm.
Last week, the company culled more than 560,000 fish after the IHN virus was detected at its Dixon Bay farm, also north of Tofino.
The fish were transported in to a compost facility in Port Alberni, said Mainstream.
Mainstream operates 27 farms in B.C., including 14 in the Tofino area. Those 14 farms began conducting IHN tests of their fish as soon as it was detected.
Another company, Grieg Seafood, put its Ahlstrom Point farm, near Sechelt, into voluntary quarantine last week after routine tests by Fisheries and Oceans found a low positive result for IHN in the company’s coho salmon.
The company is waiting to see whether the tests are confirmed before deciding on the next step.
ticrawford@vancouversun.com
With a file from the Victoria Times Colonist
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
