Salmon escape. (Photo: Greenpeace)

Greenpeace compares massive salmon escape with 140 million mice plague

Greenpeace described the situation of Los Lagos Region waters after the escape of 690,000 salmon from a Marine Harvest farming centre as an uncontrollable pest equivalent to 140 million mice that will be responsible for depredating everything in their path.

"The most serious fact is that only 5.5 per cent of the total escaped salmon have been recovered. The figure is a real failure and demonstrates the inability of the company to try to repair the enormous environmental damage it has caused in Los Lagos Region waters. It is alarming that 650,000 salmon remain free and their consequences already seem to be irreversible," said Estefanía González, Greenpeace's oceans coordinator.

From the NGO they graph the magnitude of the problem: "If we take the weight of the total of escaped salmon is equivalent to a plague of more than 140 million mice. But not only that, but, due to the treatment of the escaped salmon, at this moment we have two tons of antibiotics in Reloncaví going around".

According to Greenpeace, the almost two tons of antibiotics that the salmon carry represents a quarter of the total of antibiotics consumed by all the inhabitants of Los Lagos Region in a year and is equal to what would be used by all of Norway's salmon farming in four years.

In the same way, the organization states that the mass of escaped salmon will act as a devourer of a large number of wild fish and shellfish in the region.

"In a year they could eat the equivalent of 230,000 Chilean fish and seafood consumption. Or, to put it another way, they will consume the equivalent of one month of all the artisanal fisheries of Magallanes," they explained from Greenpeace.

"It seems that there is no real dimension of the damage that has been generated with this escape. In the United States, a scape of 200,000 salmon sealed the fate of salmon farming in Washington and here we have just heard a complaint filed by SERNAPESCA against the company. We are sure that the reaction of the authorities would be very different if these more than 140 million mice walked the streets of Santiago and not under water in Los Lagos Region," Estefanía González criticized.

Related articles:

- Sernapesca files complaint against Marine Harvest for infrastructure deficiencies
- SMA requests permission from Environmental Court to stop operations at Marine Harvest centre
- Marine Harvest clarifies information on massive salmon escape

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