Chilean salmon farm. (Photo: AquaChile)

Proposal to modify farming density regulation splits salmon industry

CHILE
Thursday, August 16, 2018, 01:20 (GMT + 9)

At 10 pm on Monday, a lively SalmonChile board meeting in Puerto Montt ended after analysing the proposal that the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA) had made last week to the companies regarding changes in the farming centre densities.

This was based on a technical report that the authority presented on August 3, which yielded results on stocking projections that were not optimal for SUBPESCA. Therefore, it decided to move forward in a proposal that changes the current limits, putting stricter limits on fish stocking and halving current densities, according to industry sources. The authority hopes that this will start up in the next stocking period, soon to begin, with a view to maintaining the good health results that the sector has obtained in recent years. Everything, with the memory of the crisis of the ISA virus, produced a decade ago and that had a devastating effect on aquaculture.

The letter, signed by the head of SUBPESCA aquaculture division, Eugenio Zamorano, alarmed some salmon farmers that are part of SalmonChile, mainly the small ones, who faced the big ones like AquaChile and Los Fiordos. This discrepancy was the central theme of the SalmonChile meeting.

The views
"The available data on stockings until June of 2018 show a quite reasonable evolution. However, SUBPESCA - by means of a technical report - without prior warning or showing higher figures, indicates that as stocking projections increased (...) and as its duty is to preserve the welfare of the industry and avoid what happened with the ISA virus , the density is reduced from 8 to 4 kg/m3," says an industry source.

Also, another close source to the salmon sector indicates that "without prior announcement and without showing any number the proposal was made. Because they fear a crisis, they justify affecting the plans of some, but not of others and reducing the densities of some, but not of others. It seems to me that this arbitrariness must be condemned rather than applauded. There is no objective reason to fear the behaviour of companies that have not opted for the PRS system and have decided to stock with a density of 8 kg/m3".

In the same line, a close source to the sector emphasizes that they are being governed under the regulations that the authority designed, so "we are complying with the rules that the same authority sets in order to operate."

On the other hand, some argue that AquaChile and Los Fiordos are raising the crops, so the rule proposed by SUBPESCA is a wake-up call for them, since "you should take shelter for a possible new outbreak."

Another source of the sector points out that the protection made by the authority is for a health issue and not for the market as some believe. In addition, this spokesperson adds that the rule has gaps.

"The proposal made by SUBPESCA is to adjust the density of crops and make it stricter than is reasonable," they say.

Next steps
Thus, tomorrow, Thursday will be a key day for the salmon companies, as there will be a meeting of executives with Economy Minister José Ramón Valente and Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture Eduardo Riquelme. It will involve more than 20 representatives of the sector.

Added to this is the fact that the companies that will begin stocking in January 2019 must submit a notarial report in the coming days. This explains the urgency of both parties.

Source: F. O’ Ryan & C. Pizarro/ Pulso
 

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