Gerardo Balbontín, CEO of Itata, believes that in the long term, aquaculture will continue to be more appealing than fishing. (Photo: Itata/FIS)

Fishing industry members to increase investment in aquaculture

The Chilean fishing industry faces a year marked by deepening investments in aquaculture and the transfer of almost the entire production of horse mackerel for human consumption, due to lower catch quotas for the pelagic species.

This year's fishing quota for horse mackerel dropped to 315,000 tonnes, which is 76 per cent less than in 2010.

Meanwhile, it is expected that numerous members of the fishing industry will invest in farmed salmon, according to Estrategia.

According to the general manager of Pesquera Itata, Gerardo Balbontín, "in the long term, aquaculture will become more attractive than fishing, even though the first is cyclical, volatile and of a high risk, especially with regards to salmon."

"The trend for the seafood industry is to deepen the aquaculture business, as it will exceed revenues from fishing, over the next few years," said the executive.

For his part, the President of the Association for the Chilean Salmon Industry A.G. (SalmonChile), Cesar Barros, said "it's good to get fresh capital and different ideas for salmon farming."

Regarding the possibility of aquaculture exceeding fisheries, the SalmonChile president said: "It's hard to tell, because fisheries are now, this minute, in trouble, but over time they will gradually increase catch quotas. Today, salmon farming is more profitable than fishing, however, we have to see how salmon prices evolve."

Meanwhile, the head of the Subsecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca), Pablo Galilea, asserts that "Chile is said to be a leader in aquaculture, and for that the Government is working to achieve it."

For his part, Luis Felipe Moncada, general manager of the Association of Industrial Fisheries of the Bío Bío Region A.G. (Asipes), clarified that the south-central area, is "virtually all seafood companies are in the salmon market, and have been for some time." He also said that what is being observed is "a strong return for businesses, as problems caused by the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus are improving."

Balbontín recalled that Camanchaca was the first to enter the aquaculture business, then came Pesquera Bío Bío with Congelados del Pacífico and later, El Golfo and then "us, as we see it as a natural diversification for businesses, as fisheries have no chance to grow in the future, and in fact, they have been clearly receding," the businessman told Estrategia.

According to the mayor of the Los Lagos Region, Juan Sebastián Montes, "in the next decade, we will see the dawn of the aquaculture industry at the expense of fisheries."

"For example, some years ago, we did not export more than USD 15 million of mussels, as it was almost an exotic shipment, but today we export over USD 100 million. Similarly, just as with salmon, other species will appear for cultivation," he added.

Meanwhile, to cope with a more restrictive scenario in terms of catches, in July 2010, the merger between Pesquera San José and SouthPacific Korp (SPK) was completed to create a new company to manage with and develop the seafood sector.

Related articles:

- Pesquera Itata shares soar after announcement of corporate merger
- Fishing companies to merge

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

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