July 2, 2020

More than 800,000 salmons treated with antibiotics escape in Chile's Los Lagos area

875,000 salmons -- that were administered with antibiotics -- have escaped at the Los Lagos area in Chile, and locals are warned not to consume any of the fish.

16 cages at Blumar's Caicura site were wrecked during a storm and the company has enlisted the help of  more than 400 fishermen to help recapture the fish, which averaged nearly 4kg, over the next 30 days.

Chile's National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) has issued a warning not to eat or sell any fish that are recaptured as they were undergoing treatment for piscirickettsiosis disease with the antimicrobial florfenicol at the time of the escape. As such, affected fish must be sent to a rendering plant as they are not fit for human consumption.

Pedro Pablo Laporte, manager of Salmones Blumar,  said the exact scale of the escape is still unknown.

"The adverse weather conditions still do not allow us to check the metal cages, so we do not know precisely if the salmon are alive, dead, or escaped," said Laporte.

- The Fish Site