Covid issues push Chilean salmon to record weight
The average weight of salmon harvested in Chile during September was a record 5.92 kilos (gutted weight equivalent), industry statistics provider Aquabench has revealed.
The average weight was more than half a kilo more than in the same month last year and was pushed up by harvests in the Magallanes region, where the average weight exceeded 7 kg GWE.
Aquabench general manager Joel Leal told Fish Farming Expert’s Chilean sister site, Salmonexpert.cl, that the size increase was most likely related to the various effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Market difficulties
“There is an increase in the average weight of the fish, probably due to the difficulties in the markets,” said Leal.
“Another explanation for the increase of large fish in the water has been [lack of] processing, since there are plants working at a lower capacity due to the pandemic.”
Leal said good had in some cases allowed farmers to keep the fish in the water until reaching large harvest weights, but that it also meant the fish were exposed to risk from lice and SRS (Piscirickettsiosis) for longer.
Rainbow trout harvested last month were also heavier, reaching an average of 3.7kg GWE, an increase of 14% compared to September 2019.
