Question Period Note: Disease (ISA) Outbreak at MOWI Salmon Farm in Newfoundland and Labrador

• My department has been made aware of the detection of a federally reportable disease, Infectious Salmon Anemia, or ISA, at two Northern Harvest Sea Farms sites in Newfoundland and Labrador; at each site, there was a single fish in a single cage with ISA.

• In Newfoundland and Labrador, the province is the lead regulator for onsite aquaculture management, including fish health monitoring, and is managing follow-up requirements from this detection.

If pressed
• ISA is a federally reportable disease to the Canadian Food Inspection agency, which is the lead for the National Aquatic Animal Health Program.
• ISA poses no risk to food safety or human health.

• The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a policy that any detection of a federally reportable disease at an aquaculture site must be publicly reported within 24 hours. This new (2019) policy has resulted in an increase in public reporting on potential disease outbreaks.
• On Friday, October 9th, Northern Harvest Sea Farms (NHSF) released a public notice that during routine fish health monitoring, two of their sites, McGrath Cove North and Ironskull Point, had suspected detection of Infectious Salmon Anaemia virus (ISAv) in one fish in one cage at each site.
• Confirmation of ISAv outbreak has not yet occurred; however, the sites with suspected ISA-positive fish have been quarantined pending further confirmation.
• The McGrath Cove North cage has 185,000 fish and the marine site consists of three cages totaling 560,000 fish.
• The Ironskull Point cage has 225,000 fish and the marine site consists of three cages totaling 500,000 fish.
• The virus that causes ISA naturally exists in Atlantic Canada and has been previously detected in marine Atlantic salmon aquaculture farms.
• Prior to the new provincial reporting policy, ISAv incidences would be publicly communicated by CFIA only after confirmation, which would result in a depopulation order. Since the new policy, companies typically proactively harvest affected cages before awaiting confirmation, if the fish are near market size. In these two cases, fish were only stocked in 2020 and are not yet approaching market size.
• ISA is considered an endemic disease in Atlantic Canada and is commonly detected in marine Atlantic salmon aquaculture at levels not known to cause disease (non-virulent). ISA also does not pose a risk to human health.
• ISA is a federally reportable disease listed under the Health of Animals Act administrated by the CFIA, which is the lead for the National Aquatic Animal Health Program. Given the disease is considered endemic and the provincial role in leading onsite fish health monitoring, the province will lead any follow-up to the detection (in consultation with CFIA). At this time, the province has quarantined the cages with the detected fish.
• DFO’s Newfoundland and Labrador Region is monitoring the situation for further development, and is in contact with the Province, the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association, regional aquaculture management and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
• Given the positive detection is small, it has yet to be confirmed, and there are no mortalities at this time, risks to surrounding fish are minimal.
• Regional DFO Science and Conservation and Protection staff have been informed of the detected ISA and will respect existing quarantines and adopt appropriate biosecurity protocols prior to going onto the site.

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