March 28, 2008

 

Chilean lawmakers urge tougher measures against salmon disease

 

 

Chilean lawmakers are calling on the authorities to take tougher measures towards preventing the spread of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA).

 

The highly contagious fish virus has caused major problems for Chile's farmed salmon industry.

 

Senators Antonio Horvath and Baldo Prokuria, both members of the National Renovation (RN) party, presented a bill before the Senate's Fishing Committee asking that fines be increased against companies or individuals found responsible for allowing diseases such as ISA to spread, according to The Santiago Times.

 

The bill also calls on Government authorities to distinguish between minor and major transgressions.

 

The bill also highlighted the effect that the over-concentration of the salmon industry in the Lakes Region (Region X) has caused the proliferation of diseases such as ISA, making legal measures necessary for the whole industry.

 

ISA has cost the industry US$77 million in one year in a industry worth US$2.2 billion.

 

The bill requires that any company planning to move fish from one zone to another must first pass through so-called ''sanitary barriers'' which would test fish for  diseases and parasites, such as Caligus (sea lice).

 

The disease, first detected last July in fish farms off the coast of Chiloe - continues to spread among the area's highly concentrated aquaculture centres.

 

Until recently the outbreak was thought to be contained within Region X, which houses the lion's share of the industry. Last December, however, ISA was detected on a fish farm in Region XI.

 

The discovery would have wide-reaching effects on the farmed salmon industry, since overcrowding in Region X had previously forced fish farms to place their hopes on the disease-free Region XI.