FREDERICTON — Two international conservation groups have given Canada a failing grade when it comes to protecting wild Atlantic salmon from the environmental hazards of fish farms.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation, based in New Brunswick, and the Washington-based World Wildlife Fund gave Canada the lowest ranking in their 2005 report, released Tuesday.

Bill Taylor, spokesman for the salmon federation, said Canada is failing to meet its obligations under international treaties aimed at protecting the vanishing wild salmon from the impact of aquaculture.

The biggest problems, he said, are in Atlantic Canada, especially in the Bay of Fundy. The sprawling bay has the highest concentration of fish farms in the world.

"It's a recipe for disaster,'' Taylor said in an interview Tuesday.

Canada scored 2.1 out of a possible 10 in terms of national performance on eight criteria, including proximity of aquaculture pens to wild Atlantic salmon rivers and monitoring and inspection routines.

The five other countries monitored by the conservation groups were Iceland, the United States, Norway, Scotland and Ireland. All had higher scores than Canada and all, except Canada, had significantly improved when compared with the most recent progress report in 2003.

"Canada is the only country to slip in its score, which was a poor score to start with in 2003,'' Taylor said.

Wild Atlantic salmon populations have drastically declined over the past 30 years in North America.

While there are many factors involved, scientists and conservation groups believe some aspects of aquaculture have contributed to the decline.

Taylor said salmon farms can generate and transmit diseases and parasites that infect wild salmon. Farmed salmon also regularly escape their pens and can weaken wild populations through inbreeding and competition for food and habitat.

Hugh Moran of the New Brunswick Salmon Growers Association said all of the fish-farming sites in the Bay of Fundy meet current environmental standards.

But Moran said the industry is on the verge of significant change, noting that a federal-provincial task force report on aquaculture is due to be released within two weeks.

"You will see changes which will set up this industry to be market driven rather than production driven,'' he said.

"It will be sustainable. It will be economically viable and it is already environmentally responsible.''

Salmon growers in Atlantic Canada say the industry is going through a difficult time and they are looking for millions of dollars in federal and provincial support to help them weather current problems.

Thousands of people in the region work in the aquaculture industry.

The conservation groups noted that the number of wild salmon returning to rivers off the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine is significantly down.

Fewer than 1,500 wild salmon returned to the Penobscot River in Maine last year and the dwindling populations of eight smaller Maritime rivers are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Ninety per cent of the East Coast aquaculture industry is concentrated in the Bay of Fundy, where the clear, cold water and high tides create the perfect environment for fish farms.

"There's a general decline in wild salmon populations but that decline is much more steep and severe in rivers in close proximity to aquaculture operations,'' Taylor said.