Chile salmon sector to wave axe again

Nearly 5,000 direct workers will be fired from March to June 2010, which will send the Chilean salmon industry into a critical period.

This new wave of layoffs is estimated to force the salmon farming industry to close the year with a workforce of 15,000 direct workers, according to the Chilean Salmon Industry Association AG (SalmonChile). About 8,000 indirect workers could also see their jobs affected, said SalmonChile general manager Carlos Odebret.

The new layouts will occur because there will be no raw material to process in the next months, and the salmon coho harvest will run out.

But good prospects are still expected for the second half of 2010.

Odebret said they hope to resume activities in October with a new harvest of salmon coho and they will begin to harvest the first sowings of Atlantic salmon with the new production model.

SalmonChile also anticipates a drop of 38.7% in the gross output of salmon for the year, which would fall from 400,000 tonnes in 2009 to just 245,000 tonnes in 2010. Exports this year would reach 158,000 tonnes, and would recover by 20% in 2011, said Odebret.