MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile to test first deep-water salmon farming project

The salmon industry in Chile has been ravaged by the ISA virus

A new system for deep-water salmon farming is planned to rock the waters of Chile and Latin America.

The project—Tripanko Acuicola—aims to install large rafts at sea off the coast of Chile, with a significant number of Atlantic salmon positioned at great depths.

The operation has been developed by a group of Chilean salmon industry businessmen.

Project manager Omar Guenul said that the salmon-culture complex includes six open ocean feeding centres and covers a total of 1,300 hectares in the region of Punta Olleta (Region X). The region has been hit hard by the salmon industry crisis over the past two years.

A Norwegian bank has invested almost 40 million US dollars in the project, an amount which could increase if a seventh centre is created. This week, at least two of the projects were submitted for an environmental impact assessment.

The deep sea operations use copper mesh cages, which are said to prevent viruses such as ISA (Infectious Salmon Anaemia) virus and decrease the mortality of the species.

Similar systems exist in Alaska, Canada, Scotland and Norway.

By Laura Burgoine - Santiago Times