Marine Harvest Chile has reported the escape of more than 680,000 salmon after severe storm on 5 July caused significant structural damage to the company’s Punta Redonda site, located on Isla Huar, Puerto Montt, Chile.
Punta Redonda contended with an East (Puelche) wind storm that began during the early hours of Thursday, 5 July and continued through to the evening, exposing the site to high waves and strong winds for hours, Marine Harvest said in a 6 July release sent to SeafoodSource. No staff members were injured during the adverse weather event, and Chilean authorities were notified immediately of the incident as it unfolded on 5 July, the company said last week.
Bad weather kept Marine Harvest personnel at bay until Saturday, 7 July, when they were finally able to assess the situation at Punta Redonda, however, speculation that a large escape had occurred was already underway. Once on-site, Marine Harvest discovered many of Punta Redonda’s 900,000 farm-raised salmon had escaped during the ordeal. As of Monday, 9 July, the company said it had rescued 250,000 of those fish, transporting them to a nearby site while it continued its efforts at stabilizing the Punta Redonda facility. Approximately 680,000 salmon remain missing, although Marine Harvest is continuing its rescue protocol in collaboration with the local Fisherman’s Federation.
Running tandem with its recovery efforts, Marine Harvest Chile has launched an investigation into the nature of the incident, to ensure its farms' engineering standards are up to task.
“Marine Harvest, authorities and suppliers are now investigating how this incident could occur and all sites will be inspected to ensure they are in accordance with Marine Harvest engineering standards,” the company said.
The cages composing the Punta Redonda site were constructed in 2017, and anchored that same year. They had been designed for “exposed conditions,” Marine Harvest said.
