The Salmon Technological Institute (Intesal) highlighted the numbers released by the 2023 version of the Use of Antimicrobials in National Salmon Farmingdelivered by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), where it was announced that national salmon farming reached the lowest value of antibiotic use since 2010, taking into consideration the Antibiotic Consumption Index (ICA), which It also includes the number of tons harvested.
The data provided by Sernapesca shows that the total amount of antibiotic between January and December 2023 is equivalent to 338.9 tons of active ingredient, also decreasing the 341.5 tons used during 2022. Regarding the AQI (%), this is reduced from 0.032 to 0.031.
Regarding the impressions of the study, the general manager of the Salmon Technological Institute, Esteban Ramírez, indicated that “we are happy with the numbers that were released today. When we review these, it is important to note that there is – in a closed loop – a 41% reduction in antibiotic use compared to 2022. This leaves us very close to the closed loop goals that we established in the project CSARP, an initiative that we launched together with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to reduce the use of these drugs in national salmon farming by 50% by 2025. We know that companies have put all their efforts into implementing various health measures to reach their objectives, so we hope to continue on this path. However, given that environmental conditions play a fundamental role in these results and the summer of 2023-2024 presented complex conditions, it is important to maintain and redouble efforts to sustain these results as much as possible when the cycles or the year 2024 close.” .
In addition, the report showed a progressive increase in the number of centers that have received the PROA certification from Sernapesca, which is voluntary and seeks to recognize the production cycles of farming centers that manage to reduce the use of antibiotics within established limits. In this way, during 2023 approximately 20% of the harvested biomass was under the certification scheme.
“This shows that national salmon farming is committed to improving quality standards and being able to reduce the gaps in which it has challenges. In that sense, at Intesal we are working together with SalmonChile’s partner companies to constantly learn about success stories and collaborate together with the public sector to be able to work cooperatively towards the future,” added Ramírez.
Photography: Intensal
