100 creeks used by artisanal fishers were destroyed and another 70 sustained damage in their infrastructure. (Photo: Stock File /FIS)

Salmon producers, fishermen face devastation

CHILE
Tuesday, March 09, 2010, 03:30 (GMT + 9)

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck last 27 February caused the loss of containers with frozen salmon in the ports of Talcahuano, Lirquen and San Vicente, and the disposal of fish, mostly jack mackerel.

Around 40 per cent of the frozen seafood products that the industry exports is embarked in those port terminals.

The loss of containers is a “direct influence” of the earthquake, which is why companies are making an assessment of the embarked production they lost, industry sources said.

The salmon industry exported 253,710 tonnes of frozen salmon and trout worth USD 1.327 billion through November 2009, reveal numbers furnished by Diario Financiero.

Per available data, the destruction in the communities of fishers and of small scale collectors in the regions of O’Higgins and Araucania is almost absolute. In the regions of Valparaiso and Los Lagos, destruction is severe.

According to Ecoceanos News, the seismic event and large wave surges completely destroyed 100 creeks used by artisanal fishers and another 70 sustained damage of differing severity in their infrastructure, vessels, habitability and population.

In addition, boats and fishing equipment, and the infrastructure of ports, refrigeration, potable water systems and electricity, public buildings, schools, hospitals, warehouses and access roads remain unusable.

Experts calculate that the effects on the economy of the coastal communities and to Chilean artisanal fishing could extend by about two years.

Meanwhile, in the port city of Constitution, the infrastructure of the communities of artisanal fishers – the creeks of Maguillines, Maule River, Pelluhue, Curanipe, Mariscadero, Buchupureo and Tauco, among others – were completely destroyed by waves of almost 12 metres in height.

In the area of the Gulf of Araucan, a tsunami destroyed the port infrastructure for industrial fishing, artisanal creeks, the oil and freight industries, and the Chilean navy.

One of the first conclusions drawn by the employer's associations of the fishing and aquaculture sector of the Region of Bio Bio is that the industrial fishing production could have a diminution of up to a third and aquaculture companies could have shortages in salmon feed.

According to Hector Bacigalupo, manager of the National Fishing Society (SONAPESCA), 50 per cent of the installed capacity (processing plants, warehouses, unloading facilities and offices) remain unusable.

For the official, the recovery of this industry will be progressive per the damage sustained by different factories.

"The first term refers to the less affected companies, the ones that can become operational in a month. The second, fluctuates between six months to a year, which refers to companies that were seriously damaged by the catastrophe, with structural problems that will make them start from scratch," Bacigalupo told Estrategia.

Meanwhile, the effects of the earthquake were also felt in the Peruvian economy, since the factories that make products for the salmon farming industry have begun to increase their purchases of fishmeal from Peruvian companies, affirmed Humberto Speziani, president of the committee of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Exporters Association (ADEX) of Peru.

"Concepcion is a producer area of fishmeal and there is fear that there will be shortages; as such, orders to Peru have increased,” Speziani told El Comercio de Lima.

Related article:

- Salmon harvests may be delayed

By Analia Murias
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Print