Atlantic salmon

Feed used in Chilean salmon aquaculture is traceable and requirements are in place for responsible ingredient souring. However, salmon is a net consumer of fish protein.

The production of Chilean Atlantic salmon relies on a variety of different feeds including specialist formulation. It is thought that four main feed producers dominate in Chile: Nutreco's Skretting, Cargill EWOS, Biomar and local company SalmoFood. These are all privately owned and the market share of each in Chile is not public information. All these companies have policies in place to ensure the traceability of ingredients.

The majority of feed producers have policies in place that ensure the responsible sourcing of the majority of marine wild capture protein and oil sources and this can be independently verified (MarinTrust). The dependency of wild caught fish used in fish meal and fish oil (known as the Feed Fish Dependency Ratio) for this species currently indicates that more fish protein is required in the diet than these fish produce, making them a net consumer of fish rather than a fish producer. The majority of feed producers also have policies in place that ensure the responsible sourcing of soy and palm oil.

Salmon farming in marine open net pens has a negative impact on the environment.

The environmental impacts of Chilean salmon farming are different to other producing countries as Atlantic salmon is not native to Chile. Habitat alteration is small scale through the use of mooring grids only and does not impact ecosystem functionality. All juveniles used in salmon aquaculture in Chile come from hatcheries, and cleaner fish are not widely used.

All salmon farms in Chile rely on chemical usage. Fish farms use a range of medicines and products containing chemicals, such as disinfectants and antifoulants to ensure the health and welfare of the fish they grow and to maintain and protect the farm infrastructure and equipment (e.g. pens and boats). Chile has one of the highest rates of antibiotic use in salmon production in the world. There are no regulatory limits on the frequency or total quantity of antibiotics used should a disease outbreak occur, but various initiatives are underway to attempt to address the problem. There are also no limits on pesticide use, in terms of frequency or total dose. Total nutrient discharges from salmon farms in Chile appear large. At the site level, the monitoring of soluble nutrient effluents in the water column is not mandated in the regulations and it is thought that the regulatory framework is ineffective.

Chilean aquaculture has a problem with both pathogens and parasites. In particular, the pathogen Piscririckettsia salmonis and the sea lice parasite, Caligus rogercresseyi. However, the impact of pathogens or parasites on wild fish populations is unknown. There is a risk of escapes of farmed salmon, however, as Atlantic salmon are not native to Chile and evidence suggests that escapes are not able to establish themselves, there is limited environmental impact. There is potential interactions between farmed salmon and sea lice, however, this is not thought to include lethal control with predator nets being the main mitigation strategy.

In Chile, Atlantic salmon are slaughtered by percussive stunning, mainly at land based processing plants. The extent of welfare practices in place is unknown.

Management of salmon aquaculture in Chile is okay but farms would benefit from third party certification.

In Chile, the administration of marine conservation is complex, with multiple state agencies having the power to establish, veto, and administer the governance and management of ocean and coastal resources. At present, there is no strategic environmental planning in place, however, this could be subject to change in the future as Chile has been active over the past 5 years in designating MPAs in its marine waters and this is often a precursor to the development of a plan to cover all national marine waters.

In Chile, there is regulatory framework in place to address farm level environmental impact assessment, protection of valuable habitats and species, use of land and water resources, discharges, biosecurity and disease management. However, it is thought that regulation is not effective. Chile has widespread problems with both parasites and pathogens in salmon farms. Regulations regarding the use of chemicals, discharges and escapes are also thought to be ineffective.