A highly contagious disease that can be fatal to Atlantic salmon but is harmless to humans has spread to Maine, threatening endangered wild salmon and taking a bite out of fish farmers’ wallets. So far this year, fish farmers in Maine have been forced to kill more than 700,000 salmon worth some $11 million in an attempt to stop the spread of infectious salmon anemia. Federal officials worry that the disease may jump to wild salmon if infected farm-raised fish escape their pens. In recent years, fish farmers in Europe and Canada have destroyed millions of fish to try to stop the spread of the disease. Fish-farming already isn’t a favorite with environmentalists, who fear that farm fish, including genetically engineered varieties, may someday breed with wild salmon.
