Thirteen new sites with high abundance of sea lice
Between the weeks 52nd in 2012 and the 6th one this year, 40 farming sites have been reported as with an average abundance of adult lice (Caligus rogercresseyi) per fish equal or higher than 9 parasites per fish according to the National Service of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Sernapesca) .
These sites, known as Sites of Large Spread or CAD, are spread exclusively in the regions of Aysén (27) and Los Lagos (13).
From the 40 total CAD in Chile, only 3 sites were farming Rainbow trout, while the rest was stocked with Atlantic salmon. Meanwhile, just one CAD was being harvested, while the other 39 sites were in the process of fattening fish.
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.
These thirteen new CADs in the 6th week is the largest amount of new sites with high abundances of sea lice in a single week since the new sanitary programme is in operation.
