Salmon in trouble
Although Canada's west coast is known for disputes over the Pacific salmon, wild salmon in the north Atlantic Ocean and farm-raised salmon have been making headlines. The salmon population in the North Atlantic dropped to 114,000 mature fish in 1998, its lowest point ever. Meanwhile, salmon farmers in the Canadian province of New Brunswick were faced with a contrary situation. They could not destroy their crop fast enough to stop the spread of the disease Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA). Over the last eight months, salmon farmers have slaughtered more than 1.2 million salmon under the government's order to contain the outbreak of the disease. With North Atlantic Salmon fishery on the brink of collapse, all the countries in the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation agreed to a moratorium on commercial salmon fishing.