HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia conservation group is calling on the government to reconsider the use of open-net pens after a seafood company reported a suspected case of infectious salmon anemia.
Susanna Fuller of the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre says the discovery of the suspected virus highlights the risks that could come if the aquaculture industry expands.
Cooke Aquaculture says it killed salmon in two cages after it detected the suspected outbreak on February 10 at one of its nine fish farms in Nova Scotia.
Fuller says the provincial government should consider increasing the use of closed containment tanks as a more ecologically sensitive option.
But the province's Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture says it's too early to say whether the department would change its policies.
Tests are being conducted to confirm whether the virus is present.
