Second workshop for production practices
This activity is part of the Validation Programme for Production Practices in the Salmon Industry, which is carried out through annual workshops with representatives from producer and supplier companies, where the analyzed results are identified as the most important practices for each salmonid species. These workshops present those practices recognized as the best with that data analyzed so far. Therefore, analysis are improved every time with more information or further analysis suggested by the participants of these workshops.
According to Adolfo Alvial Consulting, salmon farming is a young industry in the world which operates in a diverse and highly variable environment, making the production process very complex and demanding on high quality information. In the midst of this reality, it is difficult to identify those production practices which are most beneficial and distinguish species, regions, stage of the production cycle and seasonality, among other variables.
However, this task is inevitable in order to make an objective evaluation of the effect they have on certain indicators in production, such as mortality, growth and feed conversion rates, as well as product quality, etc. Not to do so, implies the risk of mythologizing the effect of some production practices that are not validated with statistic data and often do not have the range attributed to them, either because they are only effective in certain species and environments or in specific seasons or regions. Thus, analysis in a powerful database through appropriate statistical tests allows identification of what practices have a production incidence in one or more of the above mentioned aspects and what would be each action scope.
It is clear that such kind of information enables companies to strategize better, take better decisions within the production process as well as understand and reduce uncertainty in their operation. As a result, companies have greater clarity about the economic impact of their production practices in cost/benefit terms.
These are the elements that led SGS-Chile and Adolfo Alvial Consulting to establish a Validation Programme for Production Practices in the Salmon Industry which identifies recommendable practices for the sector through the collection, analysis and discussion of a large base of data. This process identify those advisable practices itemizing by species, geographical region and each one of the most important production conditions for those indicators of high impact in production.
