FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – Salmon growers have released a plan to turn their industry into a true farming operation – complete with generous government subsidies.

Hugh Moran of the New Brunswick Salmon Growers Association says the plan will make the troubled industry more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Salmon aquaculture is a major industry in Atlantic Canada, but it has fallen on hard times due to concerns about environmental degradation, fish diseases and weak markets.

Moran says fish growers want to be treated like other Canadian farmers, and they want an immediate government bailout of at least $30 million to start restocking fish.

He says the industry is looking for the kind of long-term stability that can be provided through farm safety net programs for failed crops and bad growing years.

Environmentalist Elizabeth May of the Sierra Club of Canada says the industry has to make major changes to protect the environment.

In Maine, where U.S., Canadian and Norwegian companies have interests in salmon farming, an industry spokesman was reluctant to comment without seeing the plan.

But Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, said it was not unusual for fish growers to regard themselves as farmers.

“Many aquaculture companies are feeling as though they have a natural alliance with people who regulate agriculture as opposed to people who regulate wildlife population,” Belle said. “So it’s a common trend around the world to be viewed as a form of agriculture as opposed to hunting wild stocks.”