Atlantic salmon

A national biodiversity group says Canada needs to keep genetically engineered animals out of the wild, after the federal government recently rejected several attempts to strengthen its existing laws.

Higher ocean and river temperatures are stressing Atlantic salmon, depriving these iconic fish of oxygen and forcing them to swim farther to find food. These climate change pressures are also impacting salmon in ocean farms, which have seen an increase in mass die-offs.

At the same time, environmental groups have called for a moratorium on aquaculture expansion, pointing to the federal government’s commitment to phase out open net-pen fish farms in B.C. waters by 2025.

As one of the first countries to approve the sale of the Glofish in the early 2000s and the first to produce genetically engineered salmon, environmentalists say Canada needs to take a long, hard look at its regulations around GM animals.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says genetically modified salmon produced in Prince Edward Island is "available for sale" in Canada, but when and where consumers can purchase the food remains unclear.

The federal government has announced more than $50 million for research into marine and freshwater ecosystems across Canada.

Global warming is likely to significantly reduce the areas suitable for the farming of Atlantic salmon along the West Coast, according to a recent UBC study.

The escape of an estimated 20,000 non-native fish off Vancouver Island demonstrates the urgent need to phase out ocean-based farming and calls into question the federal government's own five-year deadline, say wild salmon advocates.

Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd. has been hit with one of largest penalties ever imposed in Canada for an environmental violation.

A deal has been reached that will halt commercial salmon fishing in Greenland and the Faroe Islands for the next 12 years to allow adult wild Atlantic salmon to return to rivers in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

Premier John Horgan appointed his top deputy on Wednesday, October 25, 2017, to review the "integrity" of British Columbia's animal testing laboratory after concerns were raised about a potential conflict of interest in test results done on farmed salmon.

Not a single wild Atlantic salmon was found in a New Brunswick river that was once home to a healthy population of the species, alarming conservationists.

Fewer of North America's Atlantic salmon are making it back to rivers to spawn, which bodes poorly for the future of the imperiled fish, an international conservation group says.

A controversial genetically-modified salmon designed to grow faster received FDA approval Thursday, becoming the first approved GM food animal.