Representatives of Chile's salmon farming industry are challenging that country’s proposed new rules governing the industry, which are in the process of being reformed in the wake of a deadly algal bloom earlier this year.
According to a report in Chile’s Diario Financiero, Chile’s Sub-Secretary of Fish and Aquaculture (Subpesca) began publishing the new rules in May, with the goal of giving the government greater control over the production of farmed salmon. The new rules create a risk score measuring each salmon farming operation’s performance, taking into account factors such as mortality rates, production densities and volumes and biosafety violations. Companies with low risk scores will be allowed to expand, while companies deemed higher risks will be forced to reduce production. Under the new rules, a company’s risk score rises if it expands production beyond three percent per year, and if a company decides to reduce production, it can expect a drop in its risk score.
SalmonChile, the industry group representing the salmon industry in Chile, and Marine Harvest, one of the country’s largest producers of farmed salmon, have already filed appeals with Subpesca, and the governmental agency expects to receive more appeals soon, the news site reported.
