Antimicrobial use in Chile’s salmon farming industry has decreased nearly 45 percent in the last five years and 6 percent during the first half of 2019 alone, according to Chilean aquaculture authority Sernapesca’s deputy director, Marcela Lara.
The official was speaking at the presentation of the Program for the Optimized Use of Antimicrobials in Salmon Farming, dubbed PROA/Salmon – a government initiative that seeks to maintain a progressive decrease in the use of these treatments in Chile’s salmon production, according to a release from Sernapesca.
The reduction so far has been thanks to the implementation of various measures, including the online system of veterinary prescriptions, antimicrobial-free certification, the manual of best practices, and particularly increased information transparency, which is essential for proper management and efficient antimicrobial use, she said.
"There is a growing worldwide concern over resistance to antimicrobials, which means we need to double our efforts in [controlling] the use of these products, and we expect the highest industry cooperation," Lara said.
She indicated that there is room to grow in making these treatments more efficient, for which Sernapesca is implementing the new voluntary PROA certification program, based on recommendations from the Aquaculture Health Management Program (PGSA) and on industry experience.
PROA aims to promote awareness in the use of antimicrobials, promote good practices, and disseminate health management recommendations. Each center that wishes to obtain certification must register and create its own health management and antimicrobial optimization plans, based on the PROA guidelines.
Following plan approval, Sernapesca will perform follow-up inspections during the production cycle, which includes documentary reviews and in-situ checks, where compliance with both general regulations and the voluntary plans will be verified.
The final evaluation is to be carried out one month before the start of the harvest, based on the reports of the sanitary condition certifier and Sernapesca evaluations. If the requirements are met, the center will be included in an official list on the Sernapesca website made available to the public.
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