The environmental group Ecojustice is seeking a federal court order declaring that a B.C. fish farm illegally moved diseased farmed salmon into waters shared with wild fish.
Lawyer Margot Venton says the federal fisheries department is standing by while a private company, Marine Harvest, puts disease-carrying fish into the Pacific Ocean.
“The evidence so far indicates that at one time the virus wasn't in the water in B.C., the virus wasn't showing up in fish in B.C., and now it is. That in itself is enough to proceed cautiously."
The virus causes a disease that affects salmon’s muscles and heart.