Sea lice numbers halve

Christian Pérez   Between the twenty-first and twenty-seventh week, 26 farming sites have been reported as having an average abundance of 9 or more adult Caligus rogercresseyi per fish, according to the National Service of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Sernapesca). These sites with high abundances, known as Sites of Large Spread or CADs, are located exclusively in the regions of Aysén (19 sites) and Los Lagos (7). From the 26 total CADs in Chile, 5 sites were farming rainbow trout, while the rest was stocked with Atlantic salmon. Meanwhile, just 2 CADs were being harvested, while the other 24 sites were in the process of fattening fish. In terms of companies, Blumar has had the most CADs in the period with 5 sites and followed by Los Fiordos, Cermaq and Salmones Humboldt with 3 each. 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 adult lice per fish within 6 weeks after notification, there will be a mandatory elimination of 25% of the biomass in that site.