More lay-offs due to fish health problems
AKVA Group Chile is one of the many service provider companies affected by the sanitary crisis in the nation’s salmon industry. The company today has 300 employees, and according to an announcement through Intrafish, AKVA Group Chile must reduce its staff to 250. Regarding the salmon industry’s role in maintaining the economic stability of the Lakes Region, County Commissioner Patricio Vallespín expressed last Thursday in a regional governmental meeting; “The salmon companies must take care of the valuable human resource that has formed within the salmon industry in recent years. These people cannot migrate to other regions or productive sectors, since it would involve very high costs for the [salmon aquaculture] activity when it recuperates.” Vallespín estimates between 3 to 4 thousand jobs will be lost this year due to the current problems facing the salmon industry, which translates into 30 to 40 thousand people affected when taking into consideration the family members of workers. Vallespín insists that the salmon industry must work together in a more transparent and communicative manner to combat its sanitary problems; and as for the government, it must improve aquaculture regulations and offer solutions to mitigate the Region’s increased unemployment rate.
