SEATTLE—
A deadly and highly contagious virus has been discovered for the first in if Pacific salmon off the coast of British Columbia (B.C.).
The European strain of the Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) virus is believed to have arrived in the Pacific through salmon farming, Simon Fraser University (SFU) biologist Alexandra Morton said.
The virus, which is not a threat to humans, is viewed as a serious danger to the herring and salmon populations and biologist like Morton are calling for the removal of Atlantic salmon from B.C. salmon farms.
“Loosing a virus as lethal and contagious as ISA into the North Pacific is a cataclysmic biological threat to life,” said Morton.
Morton has been an outspoken critic of transporting fish eggs from the Atlantic to the Pacific and believes the virus, that was first discovered in Norway in 1984, has likely been loose in the B.C waters for years.
SFU Professor of Statistics Dr. Rick Routledge discovered the virus in 2 of 48 sockeye salmon he collected while studying the population decline in B.C Rivers Inlet sockeye populations. He believes the implications to the Pacific fish population could be devastating.
A decline in the salmon population is seen as a threat to the entire food chain, especially for animals that eat salmon as a major portion of their diet like grizzly bears and orca whales
“The potential impact of ISA cannot be taken lightly,” said Routledge. “There must be an immediate response to assess the extent of the outbreak, determine its source, and to eliminate all controllable sources of the virus – even though no country has ever eradicated it once it has arrived.”
