Grocery chain pulls whole salmon following Facebook posts

The grocery chain Sobeys has pulled whole Atlantic salmon from its shelves in the Maritimes after concerns were raised over sea lice.

A series of photos Facebook posts shows sea lice purportedly found in fish purchased at stores in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.

Alexandra Morton, a biologist and opponent of farmed salmon, and other activists posted photos of the infected fish.

Sobeys says it has removed whole salmon from its 84 Maritime locations while it investigates the reports.

The Atlantic Fish Farmers Association said in a news release Friday that the lice do not pose a risk to human health.

Karen Elfendahl-Taetz posted these photos this week to the Facebook page of Eastern Shore Residents against Open Salmon Farming.

"Alexandra Morton in New Brunswick: 'I have bought two farm salmon since I have been here that have had about 30 lice each. Most of the lice were buried under the gill flap, where they were not washed off during cleaning.'"

"Anissa Reed and Alexandra Morton testing factory salmon in P.E.I.: 'We got 33 sea lice on this factory fish purchased on P.E.I. at Sobey's.'"

Anissa Reed posted this picture to Facebook on Monday.