Chilean salmon farmers use 1,400 times more antibiotics per produced ton than the Norwegian ones, Oceana claims. (Photo: Oceana)

Council for Transparency orders salmon farmers to provide data on antibiotics

CHILE
Thursday, August 16, 2018, 23:20 (GMT + 9)

The Council for Transparency (CPT) for the first time ruled in favour of Oceana, and ordered salmon companies to provide information on the amount of antibiotics used by the company and farming centre during the years 2015, 2016 and 2017.

It should be remembered that in February of this year, 18 of 24 companies refused to provide the data requested by the marine conservation organization, arguing that the disclosure of this information "would put them at risk from a competitive, economic and commercial point of view".

Oceana points out that the decision now adopted by the CPT represents a change of criteria, given that historically it had denied the release of the information and it had only been possible to obtain it through the courts.

On this occasion, according to the organism's ruling, the companies that opposed the release of the data did not prove that their release "affects the commercial and economic rights of the companies." And it adds that "there is a public interest associated with the knowledge of such antecedents when it is linked to a subject that may compromise public health".

However, regarding the biomass produced between 2015 and 2017, information that was also requested by Oceana, the CPT only ordered the voluntary release of the data.

"Knowing only the amount of antibiotics used without the salmon production data does not allow us to have a complete picture of the industry nor to detect which companies are making an abusive use of antibiotics," said Liesbeth van der Meer, executive director of Oceana

"At a national level we know that Chilean salmon farmers use 1,400 times more antibiotics per ton produced than Norway, the world's leading producer, but that data are not enough for consumers in Chile and around the world to know which companies are producing the most in an irresponsible way. We also need that consumers abroad exercise pressure to reduce the use of antibiotics in Chile," he added.

Previously, the Court of Appeals of Santiago ruled in favour of Oceana twice, after the salmon farmers refused to give information on the use of antibiotics between 2009 and 2014.

In the latest trial, dated May 2016, the Court also ruled out that trade competitiveness was affected, and stressed the importance of social control so that "citizens can know the way in which the species they acquire and consume have been produced." He also stressed that "the information requested [by Oceana] seriously compromises the public interest and therefore, its release must prevail over the interests of companies that reject their posting." With this information, Oceana made a ranking for the first time with the five companies that used the most antibiotics in the period, which used seven times more drugs per ton produced than those listed at the end of the list.

In this year's request, among the companies that opposed the release of information are the country's main salmon companies, such as AquaChile, Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Salmones Multiexport.

"We demand that this information be easily available to all consumers and stop being at the discretion of the companies. It can not be that in the face of opposition from some companies we have to engage in judicial processes that last for years to obtain the data," said van der Meer.

The other companies that denied the information are Australis Mar, Salmones Humboldt, Cultivos Yadran, Exportadora Los Fiordos, Tornagaleones Granja Marina, Holding and Trading (Salmonconcessions, Salmones de Chile and Salmonconcesiones XI Región), Invermar, Salmones Austral (Salmon Pacific Star and Trusal), Salmones Aysén, Salmones Fríosur, Salmones Magallanes, Productos del Mar Ventisqueros and Cooke Aquaculture Chile.

Of all the companies to which the information was requested, the only ones that agreed to release it were Aquagen SA, Nova Austral SA, Salmones Antarctica SA, Salmones Iceval Ltda, Salmones Blumar SA, and Salmones Camanchaca SA, Salmones Caleta Bay SA agreed to only release the amount of antibiotics used, but not the biomass produced.

Oceana stresses that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the excessive and inadequate use of antibiotics, both in animal and medical production, is contributing to bacterial resistance, a public health problem of global concern.

The WHO has warned that, if immediate measures are not taken, some procedures such as organs, caesarean sections, chemotherapies and the treatment of diabetes will become high-risk procedures.

Related article:

- Oceana reveals Chilean salmon companies using the most antibiotics

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