By Mark M. SmithPublished October 10, 2017 11:17:03The B.C. government has been forced to take action after it was revealed that a major salmon fishery in Vancouver’s west coast has been contaminated with a potentially fatal strain of the parasite that is also causing severe damage to other salmon populations.
“This is a critical incident for the public health and safety of our fisheries industry,” said the BC government’s chief scientific officer in a statement on Wednesday.
“Vancouver has been one of the top salmon catchers in the world, and this incident is a reminder of just how difficult it can be to keep the fish in a healthy state.”
The BCSB’s statement noted that the strain of parasite that causes the fish to lose their ability to swim is highly infectious, and has been known to cause severe illness and death in animals, including humans.
It is believed that the parasite was discovered in the Fraser River in October.
It is the second-worst fish-borne disease in B.N., behind only the Chinook Salmon Burden disease, which is a disease that affects whitefish.
Vancouver Fisheries Supply and Security was notified about the contamination in November, and was given a week to clear it up.
But by January, the fish supply had been contaminated again, and a further three samples of fish were sent to B.S. Fisheries.
The BCSBs statement said that it would take at least a year to fully clear the contaminated stocks and return the salmon to the catch.
While it was unclear how many fish died from the fish disease, it is thought to be around 30 per cent of the total catch.
The fish supply was closed for four months, and fish farms and salmon farms were closed.
The Fraser River was reopened in January, but only after some farms were forced to close.
It has been estimated that at least half of the fish caught in Vancouver was contaminated.
The contamination was found in the fish’s lungs and intestines.
In some cases, the parasite has been found on the intestines of salmon caught in the city.
Videos of sick salmon being released into the Fraser and the Fraser Island waterways were shared on social media, with thousands of people posting photos and videos of their fish being taken away.
“In the last few days, I have seen many sick salmon that are not receiving their full treatment and I’m not sure what to do about them,” said Mike Tait, who is a fisheries engineer and runs Salmon Catch Farms in Surrey.
“They are still in our aquaculture ponds.
We are still trying to figure out how to get them back.”
Tait is part of a group of fisheries engineers working with a Vancouver-based company to recover the salmon.
The group has been trying to get samples of the infected fish taken back to Beds to determine how much it is affecting the fish.
Tait said that there is no guarantee the samples will be able to determine whether the fish are safe to eat, but said they are optimistic.
The BSS is investigating how many of the contaminated fish were shipped to the Fraser, but is not releasing any information.
In the meantime, BSS officials are urging people to limit the amount of fish they catch.
“We don’t know if they are still alive or not, but we are concerned about them and are going to be monitoring them,” BSS Fisheries officer, Scott Fenton, said.
The Fraser River is the largest freshwater body in Canada, with more than 2,500 kilometres of water.
It runs from Vancouver to Prince George, across B.F.C.’s southern border to British Columbia’s southern coast.