The aquaculture industry in Chile produced 909,000 metric tons (MT) of seafood in the first 10 months of 2017, an increase of 17 percent year-on-year, with Atlantic and Pacific salmon together accounting for more than 58 percent of the total harvest, according to preliminary statistics from the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA).
Chile’s total fish harvest for the period amounted to 592,000 MT, which was 14.8 percent more than in the first 10 months of 2016, largely thanks to the sector’s recovery from 2016’s harmful algal blooms (HAB). As such, the production of Atlantic salmon through October 2017 totaled 460,000 MT, up 10 percent year-on-year.
At the same time, Chile produced 71,000 MT of Pacific salmon, representing year-on-year growth of 79 percent; and 61,000 MT of rainbow trout, up 4.9 percent.
SUBPESCA also highlighted that 305,000 MT of mollusks were harvested in the January through October period, an increase of 24 percent year-on-year. Of this total, mussels accounted for 300,000 MT, up 24 percent year-on-year, while its oyster harvest climbed 1.4 percent to 2,900 MT.
Chile also harvested 11,500 MT of seaweed, an increase of 5.4 percent year-on-year.
The country’s Atlantic salmon harvest is expected to increase from 505,000 MT in 2016 to an estimated 546,000 MT for 2017. It has been forecast to rise by 9 percent to 600,000 MT this year.
