Atlantic Salmon returning to Lake Ontario

After 150-years, Atlantic salmon from hatcheries are adapting to the wild, and once again spawning in the Credit River, Cobourg Creek and Duffins Creek, near Toronto. It's hoped the salmon will spread to other creeks around Lake Ontario. Native Atlantics died out due to overfishing, development, mills, and dams that stopped the fish from travelling upstream to spawn. A government restoration program coordinated with local fishing groups has resulted in success last fall. [mnr.gov.on.ca]

Fish farm parasites wiping out Wild Salmon

Parasitic sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) found in salmon farms are rapidly killing off nearby wild salmon, according to researchers from the University of Alberta, Dalhousie University and the Salmon Coast Field Station in Echo Bay, B.C. Infection levels in wild juvenile salmon near the farms were 73 times higher than normal.
The researchers predict that unless fish farms change their location or procedures, wild pink salmon numbers will drop 99% within eight years. The study will be published in today's issue of the journal Science.
[CBC News | University of Alberta | Science Daily]