Weather causes six-figure escape
Around 100,000 salmon have escaped from a Nova Austral site in Magallanes, southern Chile, due to bad weather.
The Regional Director of Sernapesca Magallanes, Patricio Diaz, said that bad weather led to the escape of salmon from three of the 20 cages at Austral’s Aracena 3 site, in the area of Isla Capitán Aracena, south of the Magellan Straight.
"Sernapesca has been monitoring the situation from the moment we were notified. Today the weather has improved considerably, so that operators can return to the site and ascertain the extent of damage," he said.
"In the early hours of morning, two officials will embark to inspect the site, gather background information and monitor the recovery of escaped salmon. Meanwhile, we are currently working to calculate the magnitude of fish escape, and whether or not the damage is limited to these cages," he added.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of Aquaculture, Alicia Gallardo, said that the full implementation of the mass escape contingency plan has been activated, in order to recover as many fish as possible, through the installation of gillnets around the affected cages for at least 10 days. She added that the company would face penalties.
