Tasmania salmon farming centre. (Photo: Petuna)

Petuna to cull 100,000 salmon to avoid virus spread

Salmon producer Petuna has decided to cull around 100,000 salmon in its Macquarie Harbour farms due to an outbreak of Pilchard orthomyxovirus (POMV).

With this measure, the firm’s representatives intend to prevent the spread of POMV, which so far has been detected in the company’s juvenile stock, The Advocate reported.

The fish were culled under veterinary supervision using a clove oil-based anesthetic and then transported to a certified compositing facility.

The naturally-occurring disease is spread by wild fish and does not pose a health risk to people who eat salmon.

POMV has been a reoccurring issue for Tasmania’s salmon industry and has led to hundreds of thousands of fish deaths in recent years.

Petuna had recorded a slight increase in fish mortality last month, however, POMV had not been detected in the company’s operations at that time.

Petuna’s general manager of marine, Richard Miller, told The Advocate that the Tasmanian aquaculture industry is taking the lead in initiating and funding research into understanding POMV, including vaccine development.

The two other salmon companies who operate in Macquarie Harbour, Huon Aquaculture and Tassal, both told The Advocate they had not recently been affected by POMV or culled significant numbers of their stock.

For his part, Huon Aquaculture chief executive Peter Bender said morality rates remained low and within the normal range of the company’s farms.

A Tassal spokesperson said harvesting was continuing as normal.
 
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Address:	134 Tarleton Street
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Country:	Australia
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