http://www.boston.com/dailynews/249/nation/Some_700_000_salmon_destroyed_:.shtml

Some 700,000 salmon destroyed to stop the spread of Maine's deadly fish virus By Associated Press, 9/6/2001 14:05 PORTLAND, Maine (AP) More than 700,000 farm-raised salmon in Maine have been destroyed this year to stop the spread of a deadly virus.

The disease, which has wreaked havoc on the Canadian and European salmon industries, was discovered in New Brunswick salmon pens in 1997. It was identified in Maine last March and has been spreading ever since.

The virus is harmless to humans but can cause internal bleeding in fish and destroy their organs.

Farmers expected to kill 130,000 more fish Thursday after new cases of the disease, infectious salmon anemia, were found in Cobscook Bay at the state's eastern tip. Officials quarantined the area, banning aquaculture boats from entering or leaving unless they are cleaned and certified.

''We feel that because of the good management that's being employed, that the continuing risk is minimized,'' said Penn Estabrook, deputy commissioner of the Marine Resources Department.

So far, salmon worth an estimated $12 million have been destroyed in Maine, most of them made into fish meal or buried in a landfill.

Some Maine companies want the federal government to compensate them.

On the Net:

Maine Department of Marine Resources http://www.fishresearch.org/RP DMR.asp

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001