Chilean farmer questions Russian antibiotics find
Salmon farmer Blumar has become the second Chilean producer to insist that exported fish alleged by Russia to contain the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) have never been given the drug.
Russia’s veterinary service, Rosselkhoznadzor, recently added Blumar’s fish to a list of temporarily banned Chilean salmon products after tests on a container-load of fish detected OTC.
Blumar commercial manager Daniel Montoya said that Chilean aquaculture service Sernapesca investigated the company after Rosselkhoznadzor reported finding OTC last month.
No OTC at any stage
He told Fish Farming Expert’s Chilean sister site, Salmonexpert, that the investigation concluded that the fish from the cages included in the container did not receive oral or injectable treatment with OTC at any stage in their culture chain.
Montoya also stressed that the results of tests by an independent laboratory on two samples carried out as internal control by the Blumar farm did not detect OTC.
Then, on February 10, Sernapesca reported to Blumar a second unfavourable case in Russia, also due to OTC over the allowed limit.
Highest standard
“Again, the research and the results of the independent laboratory showed that the [farms who fish were] included in the container with this second unfavourable report did not receive oral or injectable treatment with OTC at any stage of their cultivation chain,” said Montoya.
“In Blumar we are convinced that both our quality management system, certified under demanding international standards, and the robust traceability system of Sernapesca, which we adhere to with all our production, are a guarantee that our products meet not only all regulations national and export markets, but with the highest standard of safety and security.”
Salmones Aysén, which was added to Russia’s “red list” of banned salmon after Rosselkhoznadzor said it found OTC in a consignment of its fish, has also insisted its fish have never been treated with the drug.
Technical manager David Garrido said that by 2019 all the company’s sea sites were free of antibiotics, and Salmones Aysén had not been using oxytetracycline in freshwater or sea water sites since 2017.
