$13M for Cooke Aquaculture after infected salmon
About 1 million salmon destroyed
Cooke Aquaculture has received $13 million in federal compensation after it was forced to slaughter a million salmon at a Nova Scotia fish-farming operation because of a virus outbreak, according to Freedom of Information documents.
The New Brunswick-based company got the money back in 2012 after an infectious salmon anemia (ISA) outbreak at the company's farms in Shelburne County.
Cooke received the money in June and December of 2012 but the amount was only made public recently within a Freedom of Information request to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The company wouldn't confirm the amount when contacted by CBC News, except to say it's no different than any other compensation farmers receive for damaged crops.
A spokesperson pointed to a $2.3-million aid package the provincial and federal governments have offered to strawberry farmers after a virus destroyed their crops.