June 13, 2016
Chilean fisheries body ordered to reveal data of antibiotic use in salmon farming
As the Chilean salmon farming trudges towards recovery in the wake of the SRS bacteria outbreak, an environmental group has filed for the disclosure of antibiotics use in the industry, an action supported by the country's judicial authority.
Chile's Sernapesca fisheries body was ordered by the country's appeals court to release information concerning antibiotic usage by salmon producers, Reuters reported.
Farmers' uses of antibiotics to combat the SRS bacteria apparently reached record levels, an issue significant enough for some US retailers to shun Chilean salmon.
Arguing that disclosure would spur "competition and commercial risk", 37 salmon producers, as well as Sernapesca, withheld details of antibiotic use in 2014.
However, the court's ruling demanded Sernapesca to disaggregate the antibiotics use by company for 2014. Liesbeth van der Meer, interim executive director of Oceana's Chile office, expected the decision to "set a precedent" by which salmon farms must comply and be transparent about the application of antibiotics in operations.
The Oceana environmental group filed the claim which was upheld by the court.
The failure to discover a potent vaccine against SRS had prompted Chilean farmers to increase antibiotic use.
About 895,000 tonnes of fish were produced in Chile during 2014, along 563,200kg of antibiotics employed, based on government and industry data. From 2013, antibiotic use spiked 25%.
Farmed-salmon producers operating in Chile include Marine Harvest, Australis Seafoods, Compania Pesquera Camanchaca, Blumar, Multiexport Foods, Empresas AquaChile and Cermaq Group AS.
Cermaq: No "quick fixes" for Chilean salmon
During the Seafood conference in May, Cermaq's CEO Jon Hindar noted that improved biology in Chile with predictable and sustainable volume growth will benefit Norway's salmon industry.
Norway and Chile accounted for 80% of global supply in 2015, and other regions are too small to materially impact global market balance and prices. Hence, a prolonged negative growth scenario in Chile can lead to loss of demand for salmon unless growth in Norway can compensate.
As the main problem in Chilean aquaculture, the SRS bacteria has not only cause low prices and quality realisations, but also prompts the high use of antibiotics.
As an effective vaccine against SRS is in demand, Cermaq is engaged in R&D to support vaccine development as well as running systematic trial of new vaccines.
It is definitely possible, but there are no "quick fixes" for a recovery of Chilean salmon farming towards becoming a sustainable industry, Hindar concluded.
