Over thirty farms under quarantine for ISA
The ISA virus has been around for years in Chile, however, it has always been something to look out for in coho salmon. The scare (and hype) right now is that the virus has been identified in Atlantic salmon farms, which are the most numerous throughout the industry. According to Adolfo Alvial in an interview with Visión Acuícola, “The virus has already been in our environment since the early ‘90’s, and it tends to mutate quite easily. It is not a surprise therefore that we found it in our Atlantics. What we are trying to determine is which strain it is or if it is a new one, with new clinical consequences.” Alvial was recently hired as the technical manager of Marine Harvest. Before this he was general manager of Intesal, the Technical Institute of SalmonChile for over four years. Currently the four farm sites declared as having an ISA outbreak all belong to Marine Harvest. The companies with farm sites under quarantine are: Marine Harvest, Cultivos Marinos Chiloé, Aguas Claras y Salmones Chiloé (part of Empresas AquaChile), Invertec, Holding and Trading S.A., and Camanchaca.
