News Categories Salmon News U.S. GOVT REPORT: CHILE UNPREPARED FOR SALMON DISEASE
| U.S. GOVT REPORT: CHILE UNPREPARED FOR SALMON DISEASE |
|
|
|
| Written by Benjamin Witte | |
| Friday, 28 March 2008 | |
|
FDA Planning To Visit Chile “In The Near Future” “They face what looks to me like a potentially severe problem for a long list of reasons…They will likely be asking for more help,” wrote Ellis. The report’s “long list” of industry problems included poor communication, lack of knowledge about “biosecurity,” a general lack of government support and Chile’s growing sea lice (Caligus) epidemic. “Resistance to ‘Slice’ (sea lice) is widespread, and fast-growing parasite loads present with Caligus – now 200-400 lice per fish in extreme cases. Bath treatment with Cypermethrin is now being considered. All of these fish handling management strategies are stressful to the fish and are very high disease-risk activities in our North American experience,” the report reads. “There are a lot of aquatic vets, lots of vets in general and a lot of vet schools, some of marginal education and experiential competence,” Ellis went on to say. The tone of the USDA report differs dramatically from statements made at the time by Chilean government and salmon industry representatives, who by mid August – just weeks after news of the virus first went public – claimed the situation to be all but resolved. That initial assessment couldn’t have been farther off the mark. Over the past eight months the government’s National Fishing Service (SERNAPESCA) has slowly expanded its original list of just two ISA-infected salmon farms. The official list includes 19 salmon farms, two of which are located in Region XI. SERNAPESCA identifies another 17 salmon farms as “suspicious.” “Industry’s plans to expand farming into the once pristine Region XI are already underway. While this move has been touted as a solution to the disease problems that currently plague Region X, recent findings of ISA in Region XI and this USDA report raise serious questions about whether this is truly a solution or just a recipe for another farmed salmon disaster,” Andrea Kavanagh, head of the Pew Environment Group’s Marine Aquaculture Campaign, noted in a press statement. “The trip report confirms what we’ve suspected all along,” she added. “There’s a dangerous situation in Chile with the salmon industry’s rapid expansion, the obvious absence of a viable, long-term strategy to manage sanitary and biological problems and the lack of government support for the industry.” Chile’s so-called “biological situation,” as industry leader Marine Harvest initially referred to the ISA outbreak, has already had a major impact on the country’s once booming farmed salmon industry. Between 2004 and 2006 the industry grew by 25 percent, 20 percent and 28 percent respectively. Last year, in contrast, Chilean salmon exports grew by just 2 percent, according to SalmonChile, the industry’s private producers association. Chile’s Industrial Promotion Society puts the figure even lower – at just 0.7 percent. Of all the salmon companies operating in Chilean waters, Norwegian-owned Marine Harvest has been particularly hard hit. Ten of the 19 outbreak sites are owned by Marine Harvest, which has closed several facilities and plans to lay off some 1,200 workers this year – roughly 25 percent of its entire Chilean workforce. To make matters worse for the companies, Chile’s ISA woes are starting to receive major attention abroad, particularly in the United States, which consumes approximately 36 percent of the US$2.2 billion industry’s total exports. This week the influential New York Times ran an article entitled “Salmon Virus Indicts Chile’s Fishing Methods.” Among other things, the article cited concerns about the industry’s alleged overuse of antibiotics. The story, which was re-published in the International Herald Tribune and Seattle Times, revealed also that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon be inspecting the Chilean salmon industry first hand. The FDA confirmed the upcoming visit in an e-mail sent to the Patagonia Times. “The FDA is planning an inspection trip to Chile in the near future to assess the country’s overall controls of chemotherapeutic residues in aquacultured products exported to the United States,” explained press officer Stephanie Kwisnek. By Benjamin Witte ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) |
|
| Last Updated ( Monday, 31 March 2008 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
