Environmentalists say salmon escape is worse than a plague of rats

Record ID: 1142414

  • Title: Environmentalists say salmon escape is worse than a plague of rats
  • Date: 24th July 2018
  • Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (JULY 24, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ESTEFANIA GONZALEZ DURING INTERVIEW WITH REUTERS JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ESTEFANIA GONZALEZ, GREENPEACE OCEANS CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR, SAYING: "First we must say that the environmental impact of the escape of these salmon is irreversible. There is no way to do anything today to prevent this impact because it is al
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2018 21:28
  • Keywords: salmon escape environmental impact Greenpeace
  • Location: PUERTO MONTT, SANTIAGO AND VALDIVIA, CHILE
  • City: PUERTO MONTT, SANTIAGO AND VALDIVIA, CHILE
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
  • Reuters ID: LVA0028Q3YM9V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Chilean environmental court ordered the Norwegian-based Marine Harvest to cease operations for 30 days at their Punta Redonda Center in Chile after more than half a million salmon escaped in an episode Greenpeace is saying is the environmental equivalent of 140 million mice running through the streets of the capital.
    "The impact is taking place in two areas. First, there is the impact to the health of people who may consume this salmon; they've already said that these salmon are not fit for human consumption," said Greenpeace Oceans Campaign Coordinator Estefania Gonzalez. "But there is an even greater ecosystem damage which is much more dangerous. Because the salmon is not a native species to this area, what it does is eat and devour all the other species in the sea. It is a truly, truly highly destructive species. This is why we wanted to make the comparison that this (the salmon escape) is equivalent to having 140 million loose mice in the city of Santiago."
    On July 5, more than 600,000 salmon escaped the fish farm near the southern city of Calbuco after a storm damaged nine enclosures at Marine Harvest's Punta Redonda Center.
    Greenpeace expressed concern that some of the salmon are a non-native species that could devour a number of wild fish and seafood, and their decomposition could potentially trigger an outbreak of algae bloom.
    Under Chilean law, the company has 30 days to recover the fish and has been working with local fisheries to do so.
    On Monday, Chilean courts ordered the company to take additional measures to protect the environment, including flying over the region to search for dead fish, making a plan for the disposal of the dead fish, monitoring local rivers and reporting on their progress weekly.
    Some of the salmon had been injected with a course of antibiotics that was incomplete at the time of their escape, making them unfit for human consumption and prompting concern by the environmental group that the fish will make it into the food chain too early.
    "The antibiotics released in the sea is equivalent to what Norway uses in 4 years and here we have it just one escape. Therefore, the impact of this particular escape, added on to all the impact that the salmon farming industry is generating every single day polluting the water, adding chemicals, pesticides, faeces, the increase of red tides, is something that our ecosystems can not support," added Gonzalez.
    For years, Greenpeace has been fighting salmon fishing, saying it is destructive to other species and the natural ecosystem.
    Marine Harvest has downplayed the threat posed to the environment by Florfenicol, the antibiotic injected into some of escaped salmon, saying that there was little risk it could generate resistance in humans.
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