Conservation group criticises Chile's antibiotic use

The international marine conservation group, Oceana, has voiced its concerns that a government task force has been unable to come up with any concrete measures to control antibiotic use in Chilean farmed salmon despite setting themselves a one-month deadline.  

Oceana claims that Chile's salmon industry 200 tonnes of antibiotics are thrown to farmed salmon every year in Chile, compared to just 1 tonne in Norway, the largest producer of farmed salmon.

The Salmon Aquaculture Taskforce for Chile has not yet established a formula for reducing the use of antibiotics in farmed salmon.

The programme for the reduction in antibiotic use should have been in place by the end of June.

The task force was established by the Chilean Minister for the Economy, Hugo Lavados, to identify problems in the Chilean fish farming industry and to set out a programme to rectify the issues.

The taskforce was established at the beginning of June and was given 30 days to come forward with a report.

Alex Munoz, the vice president for Oceana South America said it was worrying that the task force did not meet the deadlines they set themselves.

Oceana also criticised the task force for its statement that the solution to the antibiotic problem would eventually be found through good practice in the industry.

Munoz said Chile's salmon industry needs strong regulations that will limit the use of these chemicals and prohibit the use of quinolones, adding that good practice can be complementary to regulation, but cannot replace it.