Chilean salmon farmer Blumar and the local unit of Mowi have registered the first cases of reported COVID-19 infected workers and contractors, with subsequent palliative measures affecting operations.
In a report submitted to the Santiago Stock Exchange, Blumar confirmed five positive cases of coronavirus amongst its employees, with three in its maintenance operations and two in its Talcahuano processing plant. In response, health authorities ordered a quarantine for all of the workers who were on the same shift as the infected employees, which corresponds to some 250 people, the company said.
In order to lower the number of employees working per shift, Blumar has decided to reduce 50 percent of workers in two production shifts, with the aim of lowering the density of people in common areas and therefore reduce the risk of further infections. However, the company said it will adjust its production focus to products that require less labor, so that plant productivity will be reduced by only approximately 30 percent, compared to operations before the health authority-imposed restriction. Moreover, Blumar is enabling other processing plants in order to compensate for the reduction in processing capacity at Talcahuano, in order to continue operating at around 50 percent capacity for the duration of the health crisis. This is being done in response to logistical restrictions in the harvest phase and the decrease in demand for salmon in Blumar’s main destination markets, the company said.
The aforementioned measures are above and beyond what the company has already implemented in its operations, which includes the hiring of nurses, paramedics, and risk-prevention specialists to support the implementation of emergency protocols; the setting up of a toll-free, 24-hour hotline for medical personnel to respond to workers’ inquiries; sanitation in common spaces and the distribution of protective gear and sanitation supplies; taking personnel’s temperature upon work entrance and health monitoring; private bus transport for workers; enforcement of social distancing; telework for administrative personnel; and preventive quarantine for 140 high-risk workers including the elderly, pregnant women, and people with pre-existing medical conditions.
The measures implemented, together with the nationwide nighttime curfew applied by the government, means that the Talcahuano processing plant was already operating at half of its capacity when compared to normal times.
In turn, Mowi Chile reported it had several confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in workers from the construction company INGELAGOS, which is carrying out Mowi’s USD 13.5 million (EUR 12.4 million) modernization project for its Piscicultura Fiordo Aysén production facility in the fjord-dotted Aysén region. The specific number of workers infected was not reported.
As a result, Mowi said it had decided to suspend the expansion works at the site as of the beginning of April. It activated the defined COVID -19 emergency protocols and has made these available to the relevant authorities, evacuating people from the site and transporting them to their regions of residence for preventive quarantine.
“We have made available all our resources to make this operation possible: helicopters, charter planes, and specialized personnel. However, recognizing we are facing a pandemic situation that is new for everyone, we have had to face a series of procedures and disagreements from the regional authorities in Los Lagos and Aysén, which have prevented us from expeditious and efficient action,” the company said.
The project is comprised of the construction of six octagonal ponds with total capacity of 600 square meters and a recirculation system that would reuse 99 percent of the incoming water. The project was slated to begin operations in June or July, but Mowi did not say the extent to which works were expected to be delayed.
At the remainder of its centers in Aysén, work shifts will be 21 days on, 21 days off, it added, and all personnel transport from outside the region will be done via the maritime corridor previously defined by authorities for these purposes, in order to avoid contact with others and minimize the possibility of contagion.
“Protecting the health and safety of our team members, our employees, and the community in general is and has always been the company’s main concern and, therefore, will guide our actions in the face of this pandemic,” Mowi said.
Last month, in an attempt to curb the further spread of COVID-19, Chile’s Health Ministry (Minsal) declared the southernmost city of Puerto Williams under quarantine and closed off of the Island of Chiloé, where some two-thirds of the country’s salmon farming takes place. Salmon sector workers as well as residents on Chiloé have been protesting against the salmon industry, arguing the companies are not doing enough to protect them from the spread of the virus.
In a recent closed-door meeting with Román Zelaya, the head of Chile’s Sub-Secretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca), looked to address the protests and the other effects of the coronavirus on Chile’s salmon industry, which is rapidly downsizing its production capacity in response to the coronavirus crisis.
In the meantime, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) has moved to apply a set of 14 measures to favor salmon firms in avoiding the health and environmental disaster that would be brought on by the mass mortality of unattended fish.
As of 7 April, Minsal had confirmed 5,116 cases of Coronavirus in Chile, leading to 43 deaths.
Photo courtesy of gg-foto/Shutterstock
