The owners of a facility near Vancouver Island where thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped following a fire said it is likely predators ate most of the fish.
Mowi sa国际传媒 West downplayed threats to wild salmon stocks because of the number of sea lions feeding on the 21,000 non-native salmon held in pens there, CoastAlaska reported Thursday.
Mowi sa国际传媒 West鈥檚 fish farm off Robertson Island, north of Vancouver Island, caught fire Dec. 20.
鈥淛udging by the number of sea lions congregating near the involved farm it is likely many have already been eaten by predators,鈥� the company said in a statement. 鈥淭hat said, we take our responsibility to prevent any impacts seriously, and will take every reasonable action to do so.鈥�
Stan Proboszcz of Vancouver-based environmental group Watershed Watch Salmon Society said the escape and a recent mass die-off nearby highlight the risks of raising salmon in sea-based pens.
鈥淔armed fish can harbour parasites and viruses that can be spread to wild fish,鈥� Proboszcz said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 one of the big risks that we see with an escape like this.鈥�
Fish farming is outlawed in Alaska.
In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped from a fish farm in Puget Sound. The following year, Washington state passed a law ordering the state鈥檚 salmon farms to shut down by 2022.
