Salmon Industry retaliates NGO allegations
During a seminar entitled, “Potential impacts on occupational health of workers exposed to the massive use of antibiotics in salmon production”, organized by the NGO Ecoceanos and supported by the Regional Sanitation Authority in Puerto Montt and the other NGO, the Pure Salmon Campaign; national and international immunologists, pharmacists and veterinarians manifested a plea to the Ministry of Health to restrict the use of quinolones and fluoroquinolones in salmon farming and other intensive animal production industries. SalmonChile’s president, César Barros and general manager, Rodrigo Infante gave their say to the Diario Llanquihue in response to the call to attention initiated by the seminar. “The [salmon] industry is concerned about the antibiotics issue and if we could we would not use any,” sates Barros, adding, “The NGO’s should be more concerned about the indiscriminate use of antibiotics on humans. Antibiotic use on humans is not nearly as regulated as it is for salmon.” According to Rodrigo Infante, “The [salmon] industry follows what the national legislation allows. If it is determined that certain medications should be strictly reserved for humans, this decision must come from the regulating entities.” The participants in the manifestation of a plea to the Ministry of Health to restrict the use of quinolones and fluoroquinolones were Dr. Humberto Dölz, Director of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmaceutics of the Universidad Austral de Chile, Felipe Cabello, professor of Microbiology and Immunology of the New York Medical College, Cristian Perez, Veterinarian and representative of the Pure Salmon Campaign, Marcela Albial, representative of the Regional Sanitation Authority, and Adriana Moreno, Manager of the Work and Environmental Conditions Unit (UCYMAT) of the National Labor Directive.
