MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Patagonian toothfish farming project takes off in Chile

La Araucana Education Corporation and four private Chilean companies are undertaking a Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) farming project which is to be officially launched this week involving more than 2.2 million US dollars.

The financing comes 60% from Chile's Scientific and Technological Development Fund (FONDEF) and the rest by the private companies involved in the project. The aim of the project is to develop farming technologies for Patagonian toothfish from wild breeding fish that have adapted to captive systems. The four-year project is expected to produce a first batch of juveniles -weighing 5 grams each- from incubated ovas in controlled systems. Farmed Patagonian toothfish has yet to be considered suitable for world-class farming systems as the technology is currently incomplete. The project is considered a technological challenge and the first for the sector and for Chile. Experiments will be carried out in the operations centre of La Araucana Professional Institute in the Chinquihue sector of Puerto Montt, Region X, which keeps a modern breeding centre with advanced water circulation technology. Patagonian toothfish is harvested south of parallel 47º S, to depths of 2,000 metres and is currently subject to the Incipient Fisheries Management Development Regime, under the General Fisheries and Aquaculture Law, which fixes the annual catch quota. The annual catch quota for Patagonian toothfish in 1996 totalled 7,500 tonnes. In 2005, however, it was reduced to 3.000 tonnes, the same amount announced for this year. Chilean Patagonian toothfish landings registered a record 17.778 tonnes in 1992. But since then, landings have been falling for a variety of reasons; including fleet migration, catch quota regulations, and resource over-exploitation. As a consequence, landings totalled 1,283 in 2004. According to Customs Chilean Patagonian toothfish exports in the first two months of 2008 amounted to 53.8 tonnes and valued 878.600 US dollars, while in the same period a year ago the volume was 49.3 tons and 829.400 US dollars. The main market for Chilean Patagonian toothfish is the United States, where it is commercialised under the name of Chilean seabass. The product is also exported to Japan and Europe. (FIS).-