We are concerned about the growth and profitability of the Chilean industry

Christian Pérez A few weeks ago, Alf-Helge Aarskog visited the premises of the company in Chile, which represent around 8 percent of the total turnover and production of Marine Harvest (MH). In an interview with the Chilean newspaper La Tercera, he made an analysis of the local sanitary and regulatory status . In the immediate term, Mr Aarskog expects this industry to have a good first half-year but with "increased production and increased pressure on prices in the second half". How does your company evaluates its investments and operation in Chile? MH definitely has a long-term view regarding its investments in Chile. The last five years have been very challenging with the exception of 2010, which shows that it is possible to raise fish here if biology is under control. However, the company is concerned about the growth and profitability of the Chilean industry, since in 2013 for example, with record high prices, few Chilean salmon companies -if any- made profits. What are the main problems in Chile? The Chilean salmon industry has great potential. Currently, the problem is the rapid production growth experienced over the past three years, which has caused increased sealice abundances and therefore higher risk of a more serious disease in the future. MH pointed out this situation in 2010 but we lacked of a further impetus to take proper precautions against this rapid growth. This has led to a very challenging situation in the short and medium term. If the long-term consolidation happens in this industry and appropriate regulations are implemented, the Chilean industry will have a great future . How do you evaluate the sanitary situation in the country? Very challenging yet. The high frequency of delousing treatments combined with SRS and with ISA virus -more recently, do not constitute an easy situation. The only solution is to reduce the production level and leave larger areas without fish during sanitary fallows, all this in combination with an even greater coordination of the industry. This is hard to achieve without a necessary consolidation and thoughtful regulations. What effect have you seen in terms of costs? Costs have increased by more than US$ 1 per kilo , which of course has made it harder to achieve profits in Chile. You said "thoughtful regulations". Do you think this industry needs more regulations? The Chilean government has implemented many regulations to date. I do not think that more regulations are necessary, although better regulations are needed and applied immediately when problems arise. So, regulatory requirements need to be reduced? The key to regulations is enforcement. I also believe that the maximum Caligus abundance (which determinates risk) is too high. Today, the limit is nine lice but should be reduced to two per fish. Likewise, I think that if the presence of ISA is confirmed, the cage in question must be harvested immediately and the entire farm closely monitored. Speed is essential. Moreover, it makes sense to take a closer look at sea currents and the distance between farming sites.