A backgrounder from ASF Aquaculture escapes - September 6, 2023

Backgrounder Aquaculture Escapes 2023[46] A backgrounder from ASF Aquaculture escapes September 6, 2023 ESCAPES HAPPEN… ALL THE TIME So far, in 2023, more than 50,000 aquaculture Atlan:c salmon have escaped in Maine and New Brunswick.i Fisheries and Oceans Canada es:mates that more than 750,000 aquaculture salmon have escaped from sea-cages and hatcheries in Newfoundland and Labrador since the ind. [...] AQUACULTURE AND WILD SALMON ARE NOT EQUAL… BUT THEY CAN STILL INTERBREED Aquaculture Atlan:c salmon are one of the most recently domes:cated animals on the planet. [...] Despite these differences, interbreeding between wild and escaped aquaculture salmon has been documented throughout the North Atlan:c in places like Iceland, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. [...] iii A study following the 2013 escape of 20,000 aquaculture salmon in southern Newfoundland found hybrid offspring salmon in 17 of 18 rivers within 100 kilometres of the escape site.v INTERBREEDING LEADS TO POPULATION DECLINE AND COLLAPSE In Norway, researchers have classified aquaculture salmon escapes as the greatest threat to wild Atlan:c salmon; one that can cause wild popula:ons to become cri. [...] Half a century of gene]c interac]on between farmed and wild Atlan]c salmon: Status of knowledge and unanswered ques]ons.