Disease did not contribute to the mass mortalities in early September, say Mowi-owned salmon farmer.
Three cases of the federally reportable disease ISA were posted on Canadian Food Inspection Agency Website.
Salmon farmers in Newfoundland and New Brunswick, Canada, reported at least three cases of viral disease ISA (infectious salmon anaemia) in the region. Furthermore, from June to July, there were three others in New Brunswick.
Two out of the reported cases came from Northern Harvest. However, this did not contribute to the mortalities from early September. The temperature event that took place in late August that led to the mass mortality happened after the ISA fish in question were sampled, the salmon farmer wrote.
ISA was suspected in five of its 166 cages in the water.
On Wednesday, Northern Harvest posted on Facebook:
‘Through continuous monitoring, fish were sampled from a sea site in Harbour Breton Bay on July 17th that resulted in suspicion that ISA was present. Fish harvest began immediately as a precautionary measure. The Provincial Government was not able to confirm the presence of ISA afterward. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed, through their own testing of duplicate samples, that ISA was present at this site. The results from these duplicate samples that were taken in July were confirmed by CFIA on September 7th and posted publicly on the CFIA website on October 15th.
“Since the time of the original sampling in July, enhanced site monitoring has been undertaken, and there has been no further detection of ISA on the site.
It also said that fish sampling on August 7th also led to suspicion of ISA at a different site in Harbour Breton Bay. Laboratory results were reported to the Provincial Aquatic Animal Health Division upon discovery.
“This ISA detection was confirmed by the Provincial Government and a quarantine order was issued for the site. The affected cages were harvested. CFIA confirmed, through their own testing of duplicate samples, that ISA was present at this site. The results from these duplicate samples taken in August were reported by CFIA on September 11th and posted publicly online on October 15th.
“Since the time of the original sampling, the site has been under enhanced surveillance and there has been no further detection of ISA on the site”.
“When ISA is suspected among farmed fish, the first and best course of action is to harvest fish to prevent any spread. It is important to note ISA poses no human health risk.
“ISA was suspected in five of our cages. To give some context, in total, we have 166 cages in the water. As soon as ISA was detected, our company took immediate action to address the issue, and the cages nearby have been under enhanced surveillance by the province. They continue to test negative.
“The 2.6 million fish counted among the mass mortalities that were removed do not include the fish that were harvested because ISA was suspected”.
