Puerto Montt, Chile-based salmon farmer Multiexport Foods has reported “abnormal fish mortality, caused by an oceanographic event of low oxygen concentration” at its Apiao farm, located in the community of Quinchao on the island of Chiloé.
The algae bloom event, which began 8 March, signified the loss of 4,125 fish, which Multiexport said represents 0.0041 percent of the total number of salmon stocked at the facility, equivalent to 24.7 metric tons.
The event was the third of its kind in Chile in just a week. Camanchaca had previously reported an increase in mortality to more than 600,000 specimens at two of its salmon-farming centers in the community of Chaiten, in the Los Lagos region (Region X) on Chile’s mainland. Removal of mortality from the centers was monitored by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service, Sernapesca.
Multiexport said that the mortality occurred despite having activated the farm’s contingency control mechanisms. It had immediately notified Sernapesca, which monitored the event and authorized the appropriate treatment of mortality in bins. These were then to be sent to fish reduction plants for processing, thus avoiding any impact in the ecosystem, and on 15 March Sernapesca declared an end to the contingency.
The accumulated impact of the event reached 83 metric tons of Atlantic salmon, representing 0.00083 percent of the annual projected volume, the company noted.
Founded in 1987, Multiexport Foods has more than 2,600 employees, with productive activities in southern Chile’s regions IX, X, XI, and XII. It is present throughout the salmon production chain, from reproduction to distribution to end-consumers in more than 30 countries.
In October last year, Multiexport Foods announced that its then-general manager, Andrés Lyon, would take on other responsibilities in the company and be replaced by food industry executive Cristián Swett.
Photo courtesy of Sernapesca
