June 28, 2022

Chile-based salmon producer Australis called out for overproduction

Chile's Superintendency of the Environment (Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente, or SMA) has initiated a new sanctioning procedure against Santiago, Chile-based salmon producer Australis Mar for overproduction.

The new sanction procedure is against Australis's 20-hectare Estero Retroceso grow-out center in Chile's Magallanes Region, in the southern part of the country. The new procedure is the sixth case that SMA has opened against the company, and the fourth concerning overproduction.

The SMA reported that it received a complaint from Chile's National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), which found that, during the company's 2018 to 2019 production cycle, raw material processed at its Estero Retroceso center reached 7,459 tonnes, with accumulated mortality in the productive cycle of 80,374 fish, representing an additional 160.5 tonnes of biomass. As such, total production at the center allegedly amounted to 7,620 tonnes, far exceeding the maximum authorised production of 4,320 tonnes.

"The overproduction of salmon is one of the infractions that most concern us, because of the environmental effects they cause," acting SMA head, Emanuel Ibarra, said in a release. "In the cases we have brought up, these are no marginal increases, but large amounts of overproduction. This is a breach that should never occur in these dimensions, because companies should have total control of their production cycle."

Australis said it plans to continue cooperating with the authorities on the investigation.

"The company maintains its commitment to collaborate with the authority in the review of this case, which corresponds to a production cycle started more than four years ago, specifically in January 2018," Australis said in a statement sent to SeafoodSource. "This is in line with the company's actions under the industry's first voluntary compliance pilot programme in conjunction with the SMA.

"It should be noted that all the information on the production cycle in question has been reported to the regulatory entities, in a fully transparent and timely manner."

The Estero Retroceso center is located inside the Kawésqar National Reserve – an area that has been at the center of national attention, including a documentary produced by National Geographic that called for the reserve to be declared a national park – effectively halting salmon production in the area.

- SeafoodSource