Salmon escapes from farming centre. (Photo: Greenpeace)
Capture ban modification of salmon escaped from aquaculture centres approved
CHILE
Friday, October 05, 2018, 21:40 (GMT + 9)
Unanimously, the deputies of the Fisheries Committee endorsed the rule that modifies, for special situations, the prohibition of capture of specimens from aquaculture centres.
The escape of almost 700,000 salmon that occurred last July at a Marine Harvest farming centre in Punta Redonda, in Calbuco district, ignited the alarms and was a key factor in expediting the processing of the text.
The initiative, approved unanimously in its idea to legislate, allows artisanal fishermen to catch salmonid species from the cages of salmon farms, given the predatory nature of this fish in the free environment.
As explained by deputy Bernardo Berger, the bill eliminates sanctions for the capture and sale of salmon in special cases, such as for those that escaped from the rafts that exist in the hatcheries, "either due to technical or climatic situations, where it produces a massive salmon escape that can not be recovered."
For the president of the Commission, deputy Gabriel Ascencio, the initiative is key because it ends with a restriction that seriously harms the work of artisanal fishermen, by preventing them from capturing a species present at sea today.
"Any fisherman who catches a salmon today, if he declares it, infringes it; if he returns it to the sea, he also violates it, so it is very difficult for them, especially because, in addition, the salmon are there," he said.
The bill also has the support of the workers of the salmon industry itself, who are aware of the damage that this fish causes in the free environment and the possibility that this affects the entire ecosystem. In this regard, the president of National Confederation of Workers of the Salmon Industry of Chile, Osvaldo Alarcón, explained that any specimen that escapes from its farming or captivity centres "should be captured in any way and by any means".
"We know that salmon is a predator and we know the damage it can cause in the time it is in the free environment, for the simple reason that it will prey on many other species that are alien to the salmon industry," he said.
The regulation, which will be analyzed now in particular, imposes strong sanctions to prevent the theft or intentional breakage of processing cages of salmon farms in order to also protect the development of the industry.
Related articles:
- SERNAPESCA confirms Marine Harvest recaptured fewer salmon than required by law
- Environmental organization accuses Marine Harvest of 'frameup and corporate fraud'
- Marine Harvest and Sernapesca disagree on recaptured escaped salmon number
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