For months now, we have been hearing rumors of an impending crisis with the Chilean Salmon market. Unfortunately, the rumors are now being substantiated and the lethal Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) is aggressively taking over the Salmon farms. Industry officials are speculating that by April or May of 2009 there may not be any fresh Salmon exported from Chile.
ISA first surfaced in Norway in 1984. By 1988, ISA had become so widespread that the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food was required to declare it a notifiable disease. During the late eighties and early nineties, the Chilean Salmon farming industry exploded on the scene. At this time, aquaculture was still relatively new. The learning curve was very sharp and unfortunately, we are now beginning to see the effects 20 years later.
In order to rectify this situation and “clean up” this problem, the Salmon farms are being forced to harvest all Salmon and process them before they die off. No new “fry” (baby Salmon) are being introduced to contaminated waters, as they would not be fruitful. In order to harvest a “class” of Salmon, they must be at least 18 months old. Therefore, it may be two years before the Chilean Salmon fisheries are producing any marketable product.
In order to meet demand, Canada, Scotland, and Norway will be forced to up production. This will cause a strain on existing farms resulting in price increases.
Since ISA is not a new problem in the Salmon farming industry, new measures are being put in place to contain and hopefully eliminate another wide spread problem that can have such a devastating effect on the worlds supply, as well as the ecosystems that are affected by mismanaged fisheries.
