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Salmon processing. (Photo: SIGES)
ISA virus changes backdrop of the salmon industry
CHILE
Tuesday, May 04, 2010, 03:20 (GMT + 9)
The spread of the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus not only caused a steep decline in Chilean salmon production, but also changed the backdrop of the salmon farming industry. Whereas the big companies saw their presence diminish in the market, the smallest firms saw their roles grow.
The Norwegian giant Marine Harvest, for example, was positioned as the third leading company of the Chile sector through December 2009, with a production of more than 23,000 tonnes annually. However, this past January, it fell to number 13, with a production of 586 tonnes, 86 per cent less than during the same month last year.
Meanwhile,
Cultivos Yadran SA went from 12th place in the ranking of salmon exports at the end of 2009, to not having a share in the shipments through January 2010, Diario Financiero reports.
The big firms registered minor salmon productions because they moved up their harvests and paralysed smolt stocking in their farming centres.
That, as well, allowed small and mid-sized firms to be ranked amongst the main salmon exporters.
One of these salmon firms is
Granja Marina Tornagaleones, property of Ramon Eblen, textile executive and LAN shareholder, which increased its production by 52.5 per cent in January 2010, to 3,073 tonnes.
That number allowed it to move up 10 places and position itself as the third leading exporter, just 3,300 tonnes from number one: Empresas AquaChile.
Similarly, the fact that the big sector firms had to face the renegotiation of their liabilities with local banks led to an “atomization” of the industry. Consequently, no corporation provides for more than 10 per cent of production.
For the president of the Salmon Industry Association of Chile AG (SalmonChile), Cesar Barros, the sector still has a way to go following the enactment of
the new General Fisheries and Aquaculture Law (LGPA). The modifications incorporated to the aquaculture legislation mark a milestone in overcoming the crisis borne from ISA virus outbreaks that surged in 2007, he further affirms.
"The industry quickly understood that the way [we] do salmon farming in Chile had to change," Barros said
Related article:
- 'Salmon farming still has a way to go': union president
By Analia Murias
[email protected]
www.seafood.media
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