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Chile: More than 24 million salmon lost due to algae bloom

More than 24 million salmon, equivalent to 38,300 tonnes of mortality, has been the balance so far thrown the emergency caused by the bloom of algae in the fish farms located within Reloncaví and the north of Chiloe, in Los Lagos Region.

This was reported on Thursday the head of the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA), Raul Sunico, and the director of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (SERNAPESCA), José Miguel Burgos.

Out of the total biomass to be removed, 83.8 per cent has already been extracted, equivalent to more than 32,000 tonnes of salmon.

Burgos explained that most of this mortality was destined to fishmeal processing while another much smaller percentage was sent to landfills.

In addition, there are 2,000 tonnes “that have been destined into the sea in an underwater well of more than three thousand metres deep, more than 130 kilometres away from the coast.” The latter, as envisaged in international law, “applies only in an emergency situation and not having another possibility,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of Fisheries announced that in the coming days there will be a second stage control with the use of a submarine robot to learn about the status of the seabed and the water column below the affected centres.

“We are facing an environmental emergency and all the necessary measures have been taken led by the mayor of Los Lagos Region, where a team has been formed so that on the one hand, they can take the mortality to fishmeal processing centres and dispose the rest in a suitable place for its natural degradation,” added Sunico.

Out of the total mortality of more than 10 days that is aboard artisanal ships waiting to be processed at San José de Calbuco, SERNAPESCA confirmed that the companies have already begun the withdrawal or unloading process, and it is estimated that by tomorrow 75 per cent of it will have been removed.

On being asked about the impact this would have on the sector employment, SUBPESCA head explained that fish affected by the algae bloom would be harvested only at the end of the year or beginnings of the next one. An immediate effect should, therefore, not be verified but perhaps those temporary jobs that arise precisely at the time of harvest.

In addition, the undersecretary said that while there will be a decline in global output this year, simultaneously the industry will benefit from the best prices this product is reaching abroad.

“This crisis, coupled with a decrease in production of Norwegian industry, has soared salmon prices in international markets. According to the latest figures we have seen, it is reaching USD 5.8 the pound, from USD 4 they were before the crisis. Therefore, from the net point of view, salmon companies will have a higher return product of this price increase, and we hope that that also translates into maintaining the employment situation as stable as possible,” he concluded.

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