The last of the fish from Mainstream Canada’s Millar Channel farm have been removed and the site is now empty.
The fish were taken to a rendering facility.
Mainstream Canada says it is now focused on developing a plan for cleaning and disinfecting the farm site, as per the requirements of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
"This is an unfortunate incident, but we are pleased with how smoothly the depopulation procedure went considering the situation," said Fernando Villarroel, Mainstream Canada's managing director. "We are pleased with how the CFIA acted quickly to confirm the virus. Early detection of infectious diseases and swift and decisive actions help the long term sustainability of our business as responsible farmers."
The IHN virus was detected on 27 July, after routine monitoring at one of Mainstream Canada's Tofino-area smolt farms. The detection was reported to the CFIA, which quarantined the site.
On 7 August CFIA reported that the presence of the virus had been confirmed, and issued an order to depopulate the site.
The initial tests carried out to detect the IHN virus also included screening for the presence of the ISA and VHS viruses and the bacteria which causes BKD, and the tests were only positive for IHN.
The IHN virus is a high risk to farmed salmon, but low risk to wild salmon, which carry it naturally with no health effects. IHN is no risk to humans.
