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Photo by Les Bazso Les Bazso / Vancouver Sun

Besides the spread of pathogens, the concerns are that the large number of Atlantic salmon would compete with wild fish for food and habitat, and “our stocks are simply not in shape to withstand that,” Wristen said.

The Cooke farm is near Cypress Island, about 50 kilometres northeast of Victoria, but southwest of Bellingham, Wash., in the San Juan Islands, so Wristen said it would be overstating things to say that there is a big concern about the fish reaching Canadian waters.

On the Canadian side, Michelle Ranier, a Department of Fisheries and Oceans spokeswoman, said the agency hasn’t received any recent reports of the domesticated fish being caught to its Atlantic Salmon Watch program, but continues to monitor the situation.

However, Washington state’s Lummi First Nation fishermen starting to report Atlantic salmon in their nets in waters off Bellingham as early as Monday, according to a Seattle Times report, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is encouraging recreational anglers to target the escaped fish with no catch limit.

Vancouver Sun

“We know they have migrated north (toward Bellingham), so whether they’re in B.C. waters or still in Washington waters and where they’re going, we certainly don’t know,” said Ron Warren, assistant director of fish programs for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In the meantime, Warren’s agency has given Cooke permission to try to recapture their fish using seine nets in waters around the farm’s net pens, and are waiting for the company to come up with an inventory of the number of fish left in their pens.