Chile Promulgates New Law For Farmed Salmon As Exports Collapse In Wake Of Disease, Pollution

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The head of the Ministry of Economy, Juan Andres Fontaine, explained the reaches of the main modifications to the General Fisheries and Aquaculture Law (LGPA), published this Thursday 8 April in the Official Reporter. The changes contemplated in the new norm will improve the territorial ordinance of salmon farming and the sanitary measures adopted will be stricter throughout the entire productive process, like during periods of rest and sowing.

The changes “are good news, because it goes a long way to reactivate such a relevant and depressed sector, so that a new salmon industry is born, healthier and more vigorous than before,” the minister pointed out.

"As a government, we are aware that this is a step forward, but there is still much to improve to reach the standards that we want for this industry,” Fontaine said. In terms of the 17 measures that will be incorporated, he explained that “they are regulations that regulate sanitary aspects, as well as the constitution of ‘neighbourhoods.’”

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Chilean salmon farming companies will have to invest more than USD 1 billion between 2011 and 2014 to fulfil the new environmental and sanitary requirements set forth in the LGPA, passed last month. Some USD 600 million would have to be allocated to working capital, and the rest, USD 400 million, to the development of new infrastructure to increase security and control levels that prevent contagion among fish, El Mercurio reports.

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