Findings from the research to inform Cohen Commission recommendation 19

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is dedicated to making decisions based on sound evidence and scientific advice. To inform a response to recommendation 19, the Department completed nine scientific peer-reviewed risk assessments to better understand the extent and impact of interactions between wild Pacific salmon and farmed salmon.

These risk assessments focused on the risks associated with the transfer of several pathogens from marine net-pen Atlantic salmon farmed in the Discovery Islands to wild Fraser River Sockeye salmon:

• Piscine Orthoreovirus (PRV);
• Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHNV);
• Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV);
• Tenacibaculum maritimum;
• Moritella viscosa;
• Yersinia ruckeri;
• Aeromonas salmonicida;
• Renibacterium salmoninarum; and
• Piscirickettsia salmonis.

The scientific assessments have shown that these pathogens pose no more than a minimal risk to Fraser River Sockeye salmon. Summaries of the findings of each risk assessment are available on the DFO website.