Chile’s Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has ordered salmon farmer Blumar to take urgent measures at its Caicura fattening center after confirming the mass mortality of fish resulting from cages sunk in heavy storms, reported on 27 June.
A total 875,144 fish in the fattening stage, at an average weight of 3.8 kilos, were registered at the center. The incident “could pose a risk to the environment, especially in the aquatic environment and in the components of flora and fauna of the sector,” SMA head Cristóbal De La Maza said in a release.
SMA-ordered actions include performing underwater monitoring with high-resolution side scan sonar, echo sounders, and bathymetry tools to evaluate the marine substrate and biomass of dead fish. With the information obtained, Blumar is to report total mortality in the marine substrate, in kilograms and in cubic meters, broken down by cage, in addition to the quantity and type of food (supplier, brand, physicochemical characteristics) that sank in the incident.
The company must also propose a sampling plan in the case of a harmful algae bloom. If said algae are found, Blumar must immediately inform the SMA, in addition to periodically reporting the sampling.
Further, an environmental observation station must be set up no more than 30 meters from the perimeter of the sunken modules, with a control station added no more than 100 meters from the structure. These stations must be continually reviewed on a daily basis, with properly calibrated on-site monitoring equipment installed at a depth of 100 meters.
The measures must be implemented within 30 calendar days, from the date of notification of the SMA resolution.
In a separate release, Blumar said that it had already located 12 cages at a depth of some 295 meters thanks to the use of Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) underwater robots, “a finding that allows us to estimate that the number of fish escaped is much less than the 875,000 in the module. Much of those fish sank along with the cages, so the escape would be less than originally estimated.”
The company also noted that it has worked with 502 fishermen in capturing 23,612 salmon to date, at a price of CLP 10,000 (USD 12.66, EUR 11.16) per fish.
“Thanks to the correct implementation of our protocols, there were no human losses to regret,” it added.
