No new sites with high lice abundance

Christian Pérez Thirteen Chilean farming sites have an average abundance of adult lice (Caligus rogercresseyi) per fish of nine of more parasites per fish, according to the National Service of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Sernapesca). In comparison, there were about nine sites in this condition in the same period of 2014. These sites with high abundances, known as Sites of Large Spread or CAD, are currently located exclusively in the regions of Aysén (3 sites) and Los Lagos (10 sites). Of these, one was stocked with rainbow trout while the rest were stocked with Atlantic salmon. Meanwhile, just one CAD was being harvested, while the other 12 sites were in the process of fattening fish. According to the new sanitary programme of control and surveillance of Caligus, if a farming site is not able to reduce the abundance of sea lice below 9 adults per fish within 6 weeks after notification, there will be a mandatory elimination of 25% of the biomass in that site.