AquaChile turns to tilapia as salmon production collapses

AquaChile says its 2010 salmon production will fall from 150,000 metric tons to between 40,000 metric tons and 50,000 metric tons.

The economic crisis and the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus hit Chile's salmon sector hard in 2009, but 2010 will be even worse, Victor Hugo Puchi, company president, told El Mercurio.

“This year we’ve hit rock bottom from the production standpoint, but in harvesting terms that will occur next year," he said. "This year we will harvest 150,000 tons of salmon and this will drop to 40,000 to 50,000 tons next year.”

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