March 29, 2011
 

Chilean salmon industry benefits from Japan's quake

 

 

Japan's recent disaster could bring about some advantages to the Chilean aquaculture and fisheries industry, especially for producers of coho salmon.

 

"Japan's tragedy could become an opportunity for the national aquaculture industry," said the head of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca), Pablo Galilea,

 

After the occurrence of the earthquake and tsunami on March 11 in Japan, "it opens the possibility not only for aquaculture production in Chile, but also for other fish due to higher per capita consumption that the Asian country has," said Galilea.

 

The Japanese are the largest fish consumers per capita worldwide, and one of the most demanded species by that country is Pacific and coho salmon.

 

"Domestic Japanese production is affected now. Therefore, demand for our products will be higher and there are opportunities to expand our market and improve our position in Japan," said Galilee.

 

The Sendai earthquake caused the loss of around 30,000 tonnes of fish.

 

Therefore, it provides a greater demand of fish by Japan, which would entail an increase in prices.

 

Japan produces around 30,000 tonnes of coho salmon. This species is grown and processed in several provinces affected by the earthquake and tsunami, namely Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba.

 

According to statistics from SalmonChile, coho salmon exports reached more than 83,000 tonnes in 2010 and Japan accounted for 83% of the shipments.

 

For their part, Chilean producers explained that due to human and economic losses, the tragedy is not a business opportunity, according to the media.

 

In addition, industry sources indicated that the 2010-2011 production has already been provided, so the expectations are now placed in the 2011-2012 season.