MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Millions of farm-salmon in south Chile moved because of the volcanic eruption

Some rivers in the area have turned into a “chocolate” sludge

Chile’s National Fisheries Service (Sernapesca) authorized the transfer of more than five million salmon from three farms in the south of the country. The decision was taken as a precautionary measure because of the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic range and possible pollution of rivers and lakes.

The salmon, belonging to the farms located in the lakes Puyehue and Ranco will be moved to safer areas.

Last week, the regional director of Los Ríos del Servicio, Guillermo Rivera, confirmed the sudden interruption of normal flow at the river Nilahue and the subsequent death of more than 4.3 million salmon at the Nilahue aquaculture plant.

Sernapesca has already begun an operation to remove the dead fish under safe sanitary and environmental conditions in order to prevent any possible scattering of the organic decomposition into the river.

“No mortality or other effects associated with the event have been observed, but as a precaution, we remain vigilant and continue our ongoing monitoring, as with the Region of Los Ríos,” said Carolina San Martin, head of Regional Sernapesca Aquaculture.

The staff of this agency also assessed the conditions of 17 farming centres closest to the volcano (15 in Los Ríos Region and 2 in Los Lagos Region).

According to research, the most delicate situation is found in the farming plant of the company Nilahue SA.

Sernapesca reported that the owners of the remaining farm centres have already begun to transfer the salmon for preventative purposes or are waiting for changes in the environmental conditions to determine future actions.

The president of SalmoChile, César Barros, stressed that only one company was affected by the volcanic eruption, and that the Chilean salmon industry will not be affected by the situation. (FIS/MP).-