Salmon farming centre of Marine Harvest. (Photo: Marine Harvest)

Marine Harvest tries to recapture some 900,000 escaped salmon not fit for consumption

CHILE
Tuesday, July 10, 2018, 21:30 (GMT + 9)

Salmon company Marine Harvest is working on the capture of some 900,000 fish unfit for human consumption that escaped to the sea after the damage experienced by cages from Punta Redonda farming centre, located about 20 kilometres south of Puerto Montt, in Los Lagos Region.

As reported by the National Fisheries Service (SERNAPESCA), the infrastructure damage was caused by adverse weather conditions, an incident that was reported by the company on July 5.

The entity explained that its officials could just enter on Friday July 6, and found that a module of five cages was completely destroyed with total fish escape, while in the second module they discovered significant damage in four of the five cages, reported Pulso.

All of the fish in Module 1, approximately 463,000 salmon, had recently been treated or were in the process of being treated with the antibiotic Florfenicol, which makes them unfit for human consumption.

"These fish, which had finished the antibiotic treatment, still have residues therefore, they have not been released and are not suitable for human consumption," explained SERNAPESCA regional director of Los Lagos Region Eduardo Aguilera.

From Marine Harvest it was indicated that nearly 200,000 fish have been rescued and moved to a nearby centre that was prepared for the contingency, but persistent wind conditions and strong waves have prevented the completion of tasks.

The company is carrying out recapture work with artisanal fishermen's boats, complying with the provisions of the General Law of Aquaculture and the Environment Regulation of Aquaculture, the Service explained.

Because the fish are not suitable for human consumption, the company is arranging the necessary means to take the recaptured salmon to an authorized reducing plant, a situation that is being controlled by SERNAPESCA.

All the remaining fish in the farming cages will be transferred to another Marine Harvest centre in the Huelmo sector.

Greenpeace Chile described this massive salmon escape as "an environmental disaster of serious and unsuspected consequences."

"We are facing a really serious fact. It is a potential environmental disaster whose consequences for the area are to be seen, but which can be very serious. Not only is it one of the largest salmon escapes in Chile, but the fish that escaped have high doses of antibiotics, which is a danger and can not be consumed," said Estefanía González, Greenpeace's ocean coordinator.

For the NGO, this massive escape calls into question the real capacity to operate under security standards.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Los Lagos Region, Harry Jürgensen, warned that this incident has several potential negative consequences for the ecosystem because the fish outside the cages die quickly as they are not able to live alone. What is added to this is the fact that they are not suitable for consumption.

Although Jürgensen acknowledged that he is not aware of the detail of the law for this type of contingencies, he commented that the company puts his license to operate at risk.

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