It has been yet another year of unexpected conditions for Chilean salmon producers, but far from collapsing, the industry sees new opportunities on the need to readjust to the new situation.

Camanchaca CEO Ricardo Garcia Holtz gave IntraFish his view on the challenging past year, and what we can expect from the year ahead.

What were the three most significant developments for your business in the seafood industry in 2016?

Without a doubt, the most important event this year was the algal bloom that killed around 25 percent of our forecast harvests for 2016 and pushed the company to a brutal state of tension in managing the transport and disposal of mortalities.

Another critical point was the social upraising in Chiloe by protesters demanding the government's support to fishermen in the island - who were severely affected by a red tide caused by oceanographic conditions similar to those that caused the algal bloom.

These oceanographic phenomenon are common in Chile, but were aggravated this year by the presence of El Nino in the Pacific Ocean.

However, this situation generated a social reaction by which the salmon industry was unjustifiably blamed for the phenomenon on claims that the dumping of salmon mortalities off shore had caused it.

This raised the specter of the negative impacts of salmon farming and its lack of consideration for local communities.

Another important development was the strong increase in exports to Eastern Europe and China.

This -- together with a fall of Chilean salmon supply and an almost non-existent growth in Norwegian salmon production -- contributed to a significant increase in salmon prices, alleviating the financial situation of salmon companies.  

Looking ahead, what will be the three most important developments in 2017?

There will be a shortage of salmon because the main producers have a very limited supply, and biological conditions will not allow them to increase production at the same rate demand is growing. We foresee an additional increase in prices.

In Chile, we will see the first results of the new vaccines and treatments against caligus - we will very likely see the positioning of Chilean salmon raised without antibiotics in the US market.

In addition, the implementation of the new regulation in Chile will encourage companies to seek alliances and improve their efficiency. There will be more collaboration between organizations defining sustainable practices of salmon farming that will lead to improvements in this field.

What changes and developments do you expect your business to undergo next year?

Warmer sea water temperatures could be something more permanent and not only associated to El Nino. This would bring a new risk focus and would also open new opportunities for salmon farming.

There will be a higher demand of value-added and ready-to-eat production that will require more effort from producers who are used to sell a commodity product.

---

For more seafood news and updates, follow us on  Facebook and Twitter or sign up for our daily newsletter.