June 11, 2008

 

Chile rolls out measures in response to salmon crisis

  
 

Chile's emergency salmon committee, convened in late April to confront ongoing problems in Chile's US$2.2 billion aquaculture industry, has come up with its first list of recommendations.

 

The committee is calling for a comprehensive study to determine the sustainable level of salmon production Chilean waters can handle, among others.

 

In fact, that was what environmental organizations and local fishermen groups have been asking for years, arguing that salmon companies have overstretched the capacity of Region X's coastal waters.

 

One factor may have been overstocking, which led to rampant disease.

 

Chilean salmon farms produce an average of 25 kilogrammes per cubic metre, according to the Santiago-based environmental NGO Fudación Terram. In Norway, the world's leading farmed salmon producer, the concentration is just 15 kilogrammes per cubic metre.

 

The committee is also calling for changes to Chile's Aquaculture Environmental Regulation (RAMA) and Sanitary Regulation (RESA). The committee has indicated it wants to revise rules pertaining to the import of fish eggs.

 

Economy Minister Hugo Lavados told the press the changes would involve institutional, environmental and sanitary challenges. 

 

Other measures include speeding up the process by which salmon concessions are transferred among companies, reviewing the status of pending concessions and more funds for the National Fishing Service (SERNAPESCA) to better control the spread of Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA).

 

ISA is a highly contagious fish virus that was first detected in Chile last July and has since caused a sharp slowdown in the industry. The virus has infected 21 fish farms, half of which belong to industry leader Marine Harvest, a Norwegian company.

 

The disease has inflicted significant financial losses for Marine Harvest and other companies, which have caused job losses for the region in recent months.

 

Hundreds of workers were fired from not only from processing plants owned by Marine Harvest but also from companies like Salmones Antarctica and Mainstream.

 

The job losses has stirred serious concern in Chile's salmon industry, which after growing by an average of 20 percent between 2003 and 2006, expanded by just 2 percent last year.

 

While some salmon groups applauded the changes recommended by the committee, environmental NGO Fundacíon Terram found them seriously lacking. The group was hoping the committee would look into issues such as the overuse of antibiotics and how the salmon industry has impacted native fish stocks.

 

Studies suggest that between five and 10 kilogrammes of native fish would need to be fed to salmon to produce one kilogramme of salmon meat.

 

In late April, Terram and Oxfam Chile joined other fishing groups in calling for a moratorium on expansion of the farmed salmon industry.