New proof that fish farm escapees interbreed with wild salmon: DFO

For as long as there have been fish farms in this province, there have been fish escaping from cages into the wild. Conservationists have suspected those escapees breed with native fish, changing their DNA. Now they say they have proof. One of the largest escapes in Newfoundland happened in 2013, when more than 20,000 salmon got away from a farm in Hermitage Bay. That incident inspired DFO scientists to study the genetic material of fish in salmon rivers on the island’s south coast. “We looked at 19 rivers in the first year and hybrids were detected in 18 of those rivers,” said lead researcher, biologist Brendan Wringe. >click to read<10:27

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