Toxic Algae Bloom Deepens Impact on Chile Salmon; Will Push Down This Year's Production 13%
Chile’s farmed salmon production is estimated to fall about 13 percent from projections this year because of high mortality rates caused by a toxic algae bloom. The latest estimates predict Chile’s salmon farms will lose between 12 and 15 million fish, a loss equal to about 40,000 and 50,000 tons. The production issues in Chile are now expected to cause a 6 percent drop in global supplies. Given the strong salmon consumption growth that has occurred in the US this past year due to lower pricing based on improved Canadian production, a market reaction appears inevitable writes John Sackton.
Greenpeace, in cooperation with the seafood industry and the Norwegian government, is starting a campaign to pressure Norway to restrict trawling around Spitsbergen and the Svalbard Islands reports John Sackton from the North Atlantic Seafood in Bergen, Norway. The campaign wants to create a Marine reserve around Svalbard, claiming that areas that had been protected from bottom trawling by ice should not be opened up as the ice retreats. Greenpeace’s campaign lacks science that links cod trawling to destroying the marine ecosystem in that region. However, the movement can still gain traction among retailers based on emotional responses from their customers.
In other news the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) salmon forecast predicts another decent return of hatchery Chinook salmon to the Columbia River this year, but expected low returns of coho could put a damper on salmon fisheries in the river, along the coast and in Puget Sound. “Unfavorable ocean conditions led to fewer coho salmon returning last year than we anticipated,” said the WDFW’s John Long. “We expect to see another down year for coho in 2016 and will likely have to restrict fishing for salmon in a variety of locations to protect wild coho stocks.”
Finally, Canadian fishery officials say the recent extension to offshore trawl fishing in Newfoundland’s 3Ps region is not an ‘out of the ordinary’ occurrence. The DFO extended the season because poor weather prevented trawlers from fishing. Officials said the added days would not negatively impact the health of the stock, which includes waters around Arnold’s Cove. “From our perspective, less than 45 percent of the Canadian allocation of cod has been taken for the year (in 3Ps). So it’s not a question that we are in an overharvesting situation,” said Sylvie Lapointe, Director General of Fisheries Management with DFO.
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