TOFINO, B.C. - A Tofino-area salmon farm has suspended operations at one Clayoquot Sound site after traces of a potentially carcinogenic substance were found in a U.S.-bound salmon shipment.
Spencer Evans, general manager of the Creative Salmon Co. Ltd., said he was at a loss to describe how contamination by malachite green occurred but decided to go public with the information late Tuesday afternoon.
Evans said the traces were found in samples collected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the border on Dec. 4.
He said 12 samples were taken from 12 separate fillets, which came from 12 cases.
The salmon were harvested from the Eagle Bay site on Nov. 28.
The samples were pooled, he added, and the administration recorded levels of 2.868 parts per billion.
"We have no explanation as to what happened," he said. "We haven't done anything wrong. We don't use malachite green, period"
He said the fish, which were eggs in 2005 and put to sea in May 2006, were tested repeatedly for malachite green before they left the fresh-water hatchery in 2006 and again before harvesting in June 2007.
In total, 55 fish were sampled and tested negative, he said.
Evans said the company tested the fish feed three times and the results came back negative.
On Tuesday morning, the company told staff that harvesting operations at the Eagle Bay site were suspended.
Evans said the company also tested some of the 20,000 remaining Eagle Bay fish in the presence of a provincial fisheries officer Tuesday.
Results from those tests could come back by the end of the week, he added.
Meantime, the company will continue harvesting from its McCall farm.
Harvesting from the Eagle Bay site won't resume until the latest results are available.
Source: The Canadian Press
