Advocate wants stricter regulations after escaped aquaculture salmon found in Maritime rivers

Advocate wants stricter regulations after escaped aquaculture salmon found in Maritime rivers

Source: cbc

12/14/2021

Advocate wants stricter regulations after escaped aquaculture salmon found in Maritime rivers

Credit: Tom Moffatt/Atlantic Salmon Federation

Farmed Atlantic salmon have been found at a hatchery in Nova Scotia among adult fish that were collected from the Gaspereau River.

Staff at the Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Coldbrook Biodiversity Facility in Nova Scotia spotted the two rogue aquaculture fish among seven other wild adult fish.

The suspected aquaculture escapees were isolated inside the hatchery and scale samples were taken to confirm their origin. After the fish were determined to be escapees, they were euthanized as protocol does not allow for the fish to be released.

This is not the first time escaped salmon have been caught this year. Nine aquaculture fish have been found in rivers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine.