Volcano kills 21 million fish
Information provided by member companies of the Association of the Chilean Salmon Industry (SalmonChile), says there are about 350 aquaculture jobs affected by the eruption of the Calbuco volcano and the subsequent landslides and flooding it has caused.
“All workers are in perfect condition and keep their jobs, although in some cases they should be relocated, considering that some facilities were seriously damaged,” SalmonChile reports.
Although there is no official information on losses in freshwater facilities, SalmonChile calculates losses of around 9 per cent of all Atlantic salmon smolts and 3 per cent of all trout smolts - which equates to about 21 million fish from a total of 257 million in different freshwater stages in the country.
“The harvest of these fish was not considered for this or next year, but would have taken place during 2017”, said SalmonChile.
Moreover, the association calculates a loss of 3,800 Atlantic salmon broodstock, equivalent to 0.4 per cent of the country's Atlantic salmon broodstock. Meanwhile, approximately 11,000 coho broodstock were lost, equivalent to around 5 per cent of the broodstock of this species.
Finally, SalmonChile commented that several companies have already reactivated their operations, following the lifting of restrictions instigated by occupational health and safety officials.
