The Chilean association of salmon farmers, SalmonChile, the Chilean Salmon Marketing Council (CSMC) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Monday to form the Chilean Salmon Antibiotic Reduction Program, with a commitment to reduce antibiotic use 50 percent by 2025.
All twelve members of SalmonChile will work together on an action plan with guidance from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The move is aimed at reaching a Seafood Watch Good Alternative rating by 2025.
"Never before has our industry made such a bold commitment," said Arturo Clement, CEO of SalmonChile.
"We are excited to work together as an industry and with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to fulfill this extremely important goal.
In addition, the CSMC officially announced the launch of its new Patagonia-focused campaign "The Promise of Patagonia," to highlight the conditions of the Chilean southern regions for salmon farming.
"We are emphasizing the pristine Patagonian region of Chile, where salmon is raised in the pure coastal Antarctic waters," said Ricardo Garcia, vice chairman of Salmones Camanchaca and chairman of CSMC.
The signatories are AquaChile, Australis, Blumar, Cermaq Chile, Cooke Aquaculture, Cultivos Yadran, Marine Farm, Multiexport, Salmones Austral, Caleta Bay, Salmones Camanchaca, and Ventisqueros.
A previous version of this article said Mowi Chile signed the MoU along with the rest of the companies.
However, Mowi Chile is not part of this specific commitment, as it acts individually and not as part of SalmonChile. Nevertheless it also has an ambitious strategy for antibiotic reduction in the country.
"We already reduced our use of antibiotics by 50 percent in 2018," Fernando Villarroel, CEO of Mowi Chile, told IntraFish.
"The challenge now is to maintain the effort and keep reducing antibiotic levels," he said.
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