Chilean aquaculture and fish farmer Camanchaca harvested 13,902 metric tons (MT) of salmon during the first quarter of the year, representing around 90 percent of its planned harvest for the quarter.
A slowdown in the last two weeks, due to the implementation of measures to mitigate the risk of COVID-19, created the 10 percent shortfall, the company said in a release. During the last week of March, processes ran at about 65 percent of capacity, it said.
The harvest’s breakdown was 13,142 MT of Atlantic salmon with an average weight of 4.9 kilograms, and 760 MT of coho salmon at an average of 4.3 kilograms.
Camanchaca highlighted its “solid financial standing and liquidity” with cash on hand of more than USD 23 million (EUR 21.1 million), unused short-term lines of credit of USD 30 million (EUR 27.6 million), and net debt at USD 81 million (ERU 74.6 million). The company said that in order to protect that standing, it would reduce its investment plan 50 percent from April through December this year.
Calling COVID-19 “an unprecedented challenge for Camanchaca and its people,” it said the goal is to protect the wellbeing of its employees and their families, maintain critical operational continuity, and protect lives and jobs.
“In previous crises, the company has proven to be able to adequately resist turbulence,” it said.
It reviewed the health measures it has been undertaking to avoid contagion and spread of COVID-19. However, on Friday, 3 April, the company reported its first case of coronavirus among its employees. A woman at Camanchaca’s Pesca Sur shrimp processing plant, located in Tomé, Biobío Region, presented symptoms and notified her superiors, who activated the protocol. This included the isolation of her eight coworkers who had had close contact with her.
Blumar and Mowi Chile have also reported employees testing positive for COVID-19, and scaled back production in order to accommodate for more thorough health and safety measures.
This is not the first instance of coronavirus interrupting Camanchaca’s operations. Protests and roadblocks on the island of Chiloé over the government’s handling of the pandemic have disrupted the flow of critical production supplies to the island and the transportation of finished product to their final destinations or to refrigerated warehouses for storage. In response, the company suspended production of mussels at its Cultivos Sur plant and put about 300 of its workers on unpaid leave for two weeks.
Camanchaca Cultivos Sur is a subsidiary that harvests close to 25 million kilograms of mussels. Its 2019 revenues of USD 25 million (EUR 23 million) represented approximately 4 percent of Camanchaca’s total income.
Salmones Camanchaca S.A. is a vertically integrated salmon producer with total existing production capacity of 70,000 to 75,000 MT. It has around 1,500 employees.
Photo courtesy of Camanchaca
