The 30 September escape of some 27,400 salmon from a broken cage at Chilean farmer Salmones Aysén’s Huito Cultivation Center may have been intentional sabotage.
Authorities are currently investigating, but “it seems that this may have been caused from outside the cultivation center,” Chile Regional Secretary of the Economy Francisco Muñoz said, according to Soy Puerto Montt.
According to the information on which Muñoz was briefed, the hole in the cage was not caused by strong tides or anchor failure, nor could it be attributed to sea lions or other species. Damage to cages at that depth is unusual and is likely due to third-party actions, he said. Muñoz urged the company to present evidence helping to prove outside intervention in the escape.
On 30 September, Salmones Aysén discovered a two-meter rip in its cage 104 at a depth of 10 meters, Chile’s fishing authority Sernapesca announced. In the days following the discovery, Sernapesca officials and maritime authorities traveled to the site to inspect the damage with a subaquatic robot.
The company had declared a total of 32,485 fish for that cage, located at its Huito Cultivation Center in Calbuco, Los Lagos Region in southern Chile. More than 5,000 fish remained inside the cage at the time the hole was discovered.
By Thursday, 3 October, the company had recovered more than 18 percent of the estimated 27,400 escaped salmon, it reported.
Eduardo Aguilera, regional director of Sernapesca, said that Salmones Aysén would not be charged with environmental damage as in the case of escape – the law states an environmental disaster can only be considered when the company affected is unable to recapture at least 10 percent of the fish escaped.
The law allows 30 days for the affected company to control escapes and recapture fish, and so Salmones Aysén’s recapture level is expected to increase.
The Huito site – which is Sernapesca-certified as free of antimicrobial and antiparasitic use during the fattening period – holds some 696,000 coho salmon, at an average weight of 3.1 kilograms. Harvest had begun the day previous to the escape.
Photo courtesy of Salmones Aysén
