More farms are being built in southern Chile to boost the country’s output of Atlantic salmon in the next few years according to Chile’s director of national fisheries and aquaculture service, Sernapesca, Jose Miguel Burgos.
In Chile’s region 12, the country’s southernmost region also known as the Magallanes, another 50 salmon farms have gone into operation in the past three years.
Salmon farming will be further expanded in the next two to three years. It will consequently increase the total salmon production in Chile, combining with those produced in region 10, known as the Los Lagos region and in the region 11, or Aisen, region.
At present, there are 1,300 licensed salmon farms in Chile, concentrated in regions 10 and 11.
The salmon production in these two regions accounts for 95% of all the farmed salmon produced in the entire country.
However, only about 350 farms are operating at any one time, said Burgos. This is because government regulations require all farms to implement operational breaks.
Three years ago, the Chilean government started work on turning the 12th region into a major salmon-producing area. Since then, 50 farms have been opened, producing mostly Atlantic salmon. The 12th region produces 33,000 metric tons of salmon a year, about 5% of the national total.
We will be able to set up another 100 salmon farms in the 12th region in the next two-to-three years, said Burgos. Five years after they are set up, the region will double its output to 60,000t of farmed salmon, he predicted. This works out to about 10% of Chile’s total salmon output.
The increase of salmon farms in the 12th region does not mean that the output in the 10th and 11th regions will decrease, he said.
Burgos indicated that his agency plans to ensure that the three regions will work together to produce a stable supply of salmon.
This year’s salmon output in Chile is expected to decline, not least because of the effect of algal blooms that erupted in February. According to Burgos, about 25 million salmon perished in the blooms.
Most of the fish were due to be harvested at the end of this year, he disclosed.
Meanwhile, a huge quantity of trout perished through the spread of Piscirickettsiosis, an aquatic disease that plagues the Chilean salmon farming industry.
The hygienic environment last year was not good, explained Burgos.
Chile implemented new regulations in 2013 that restrict the quantity of salmon fry available to a farm to populate its breeding tanks if the hygienic condition of the farm fails to meet with approval.
The total amount of salmon fry released this season was down 15% over last season’s figure.
Burgos pointed out that the El Nino effect had affected the harvesting of pelagic fish.
There are strong waves along the coast which have changed the fishing grounds a little. More and more fish are also being washed up ashore, he explained. At the same time, poisonous algae have erupted. The impact is especially serious in the south.
In the 10th region, a major part of the harvesting areas (mainly for shellfish) has been closed. It has had a huge impact on fishermen, explained Burgos. The government is doing whatever is necessary to help them.
Regarding next year’s catches and fishing quota, he said, we still do not know at this stage. At present, we are analyzing our resource situation. There is a possibility that we may maintain the status quo.
For the last three years, Chile has been using scientific standpoints to determine fishing quotas.
Among the main species of fish harvested in Chile, seven species are being fully exploited. Nine species are overfished. Nine species have been depleted. Henceforth, we will not allow further worsening of our resources but will maintain the status quo and gradually move towards the recovery of our resources, said Burgos.
In addition to setting fishing quotas through scientific assessment, we will also continue to watch out for illegal fishing, he said.