SalmonChile’s self-regulation pledge for disease control
According to SalmonChile’s general manager Rodrigo Infante, the Association is now enforcing stricter sanitary regulations among its members than the current legal requirements. Infante indicated in the Diario Financiero that the Association has established that its members, who represent 85% of the industry’s production, must leave a minimum fallow period for all farm sites following harvest whether affected by ISA or not, in an attempt to shorten the life cycle of various pathogens that persist in farming areas. And fortunately, although some older salmon companies strongly oppose, others such as Pesquera El Golfo and Pesquera Itata are developing neighbourhood self-regulation and enforcement programs, in which various farms (and various companies) regulate one another within certain zones. Alberto Romero, G.M. of El Golfo and Gerardo Balbotín G.M. of Itata explain, “In two of the zones where we operate we’ve constituted clear protocols for sanitary barriers such as a cross-audits among farms, a register of marine traffic and personnel entering the zones, and disinfection of personnel, materials, and boats.”
Both El Golfo and Itata are relatively young in the salmon farming business and eager to seek cooperative solutions for these problems that were somewhat unforeseen in their projected business plans. It has been noted however that the older salmon companies, often with privileged farming areas are more resistant to the open book style of zoned farming. Some insist that they know what they are doing and do not need anyone but Sernapesca watching over them. Thus, for SalmonChile its challenge remains to achieve an industry-wide coordination (including the 15% non-membership) to clean up and disinfect itself.
