Chilean '09 salmon exports likely to fall 50 percent

Chile's salmon exports this year are most likely to decrease 40 percent to 50 percent from last year due to the impact of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus, announced the Instituto de Fomento Pequero (IFOP).

According to the IFOP, the fall in export in terms of value may not be so great because the prices of salmon (FOB) in December last year surged 22.7 percent over a year earlier to US$5.30 per kilogramme and the world's demand for salmon this year is predicted to increase by 5 percent.

ISA first appeared in the country in mid 2007 and since then, it has continued to spread throughout Brazil's southern salmon farming regions, forcing the closure of numerous salmon farms and processing plants.

Due to the ISA situation, producers have been harvesting their salmon prematurely and processing them before they have a chance to contract the illness.

IFOP said the premature harvests led to record exports in 2008, when the Chilean salmon industry sold more than US$2.4 billion worth of fish.