June 14, 2011
Chile moves five million salmon due to volcanic eruption
The National Fisheries Service (Sernapesca) permitted the transfer of more than five million salmon from three farms in southern Chile as a safety measure due to the volcanic eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle range that will pollute the waters of rivers and lakes.
The salmon, belonging to the farms located in the lakes Puyehue and Ranco will be moved to safer areas.
Last week, the regional director of Los RÃos del Servicio, Guillermo Rivera, confirmed the sudden interruption of the normal water flow in the river Nilahue and the subsequent deaths of more than 4.3 million salmon from the aquaculture Nilahue River.
Sernapesca has already begun an operation to remove the dead fish under safe sanitary and environmental conditions in order to prevent the possible scatter in the river.
"No mortality or other effects associated with the event have been observed, but as a precaution, we remain vigilant and continue our ongoing monitoring, as with the Region of Los RÃos," said Carolina San Martin, head of Regional Sernapesca Aquaculture.
The staff of this agency also assessed the conditions in which the 17 farming centers closest to the volcano (15 in Los RÃos Region and 2 in Los Lagos Region).
According to research, the most delicate situation is found in the farming plant of the company Nilahue SA.
The president of SalmonChile, César Barros, stressed that only one company was affected by the volcanic eruption, and that the Chilean salmon industry will not be affected by this situation.
