December 26, 2007

Salmon disease in Chile prompts farm to consider relocation

Marine Harvest ASA, the world's largest salmon company, said it is seriously considering moving part of their salmon operations from Chile after a serious outbreak of Infectious Salmon Anemia ( ISA) there.

The latest ISA outbreak is the first detected outside Region X, which is where Chile's salmon farming industry concentrated.

Marine Harvest, operating in Chile under the name of Mainstream-Cermaq, recently said it is opening salmon farms in the XI region. The company is considering moving to region XII, which is believed to be as yet untouched by the disease, according to Marine Harvest president Leif Frode Onarheim.

Doing so would require that the company purchase licenses from the government, which would require additional funding.

The company's performance in the third quarter was already hit hard by the disease, which has spread to many Chilean salmon farms.

The company said the affected farm is relatively isolated and is optimistic that the danger of the disease spreading to other farms would be kept at a minimum.

ISA is a highly contagious fish disease which does not affect humans.