MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean officials and private sector divided over recovery of salmon exports

The ISA outbreak has cut 2009 salmon exports by 30% and next year does not look brighter according to Salmon Chile

Chilean officials expect sustained growth from the aquaculture sector with exports reaching 4 billion US dollars by 2015. Currently Chile’s main aquaculture export product is salmon with overseas sales in 2008 of 2.4 billion USD. The private sector however does not share the enthusiasm.

“We had an ambitious goal for 2012, but it is evident that it does not make sense to consider it in that timeframe due to the salmon farming crisis, which represents 90% of aquaculture sector exports” the Minister of Economy, Hugo Lavados, said.

Chile’s salmon industry is suffering from a serious sanitary crisis originated in the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus expected to cut industry exports 30% in 2009. Moreover the sector anticipates an even lower production in 2010.

Asked about the duplication of shipments in six years, Lavados said the objective is “demanding and difficult,” as “those that are easily attainable do not make any sense”.

He added: “If we do not reach the 4 billion dollars goal; no one is going to slit open their wrists, but we should apply the maximum effort possible.”

According to Lavados, “an important” recovery in salmon farming is expected “towards the end of 2010” which together with an increase of the international salmon price and development of other aquaculture species should help.

The Salmon Industry Association AG of Chile (Salmon Chile) general manager Carlos Odebret, said that although the industry wants to reach that level of exports, “we should be more conservative with projections” as there were fewer sowings of Atlantic salmon.

Industry executives explained that they only aspire to recover the level of exports previous to the appearance of the ISA virus by 2015.

The latest reports from Chile’s National Service of Fisheries (SERNAPESCA), indicates that harvests to September from the aquaculture sector totalled 458.130 tons, which is 26.6% lower than in the same period of 2008, with 624.150 tons.

The main harvests were Atlantic salmon, mussel and rainbow trout, which accounted for 32.8%, 30.3% and 19.9% of the total production, respectively. The southern regions X and XI, generated most of the harvest: 291.200 and 136.500 tons.

To September Atlantic salmon harvest totalled 150.100 tons, 44.2% less than the volume registered in the same period of 2008 (268.800 tons). (FIS/MP).-