Production of salmonids in Chile grew by 6.5% in 2018, with Atlantic salmon volumes up by 8.6%.

Chilean Atlantic salmon harvest grew 8.6% in 2018

The amount of Atlantic salmon harvested in Chile grew by 8.6% to 633,000 tonnes last year according to Subpesca, the government’s Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

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The total preliminary harvest of salmonids, including coho salmon and rainbow trout, was 843,000 tonnes, a 6.5% increase compared to 2017. Atlantic salmon accounted for 75% of the figure, coho 16.3% and rainbow trout 8.7%.

The Aysén and Los Lagos regions produced 318,000 tonnes and 248,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon respectively.

The harvest levels of coho salmon in 2018 reached 137,000 tonnes, an increase of 2.2%. Coho is primarily produced in the Los Lagos region (86.2%) followed by Aysén (13.7%).

Trout down 2.9%

The 2018 rainbow trout harvest amounted to 72,000 tonnes, a drop of 2.9% compared to 2017. The main regions where rainbow trout are produced are Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes, with 72.7%, 15.5% and 8.8%, respectively.

There were 666.2 million eggs produced, an increase of 3.7%. More than half - 58.4% - were Atlantic salmon eggs, 21.9% coho salmon and 19.7% rainbow trout.

There were 12.3 million eggs imported from Iceland, up from 7.5m in 2017.

To read the full Subpesca report (in Spanish), click here.