Aquaculture for all

Salmon Virus Outbreak Offers Opportunity

Salmonids Health Economics +3 more

CANADA - The virus that has hit fish farms in Chile could become a bonus for British Columbia's salmon farmers - if they can take advantage.

According to a report in the Vancouver Sun, prices have risen by between 10 and 15 per cent in the last six months because of a lack of product on the market.

Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, told the VAncouver Sun: "It's good for the B.C. industry because we've got good, solid prices moving forward. It helps with new equipment and capital outlays, [and] provides stability for the workforce."

She added that while NOPrway was taking up the slack in the US market British Columbia has been restricted becasue of constraints on growth locally.

Global supply of farmed salmon is estimated to fall by 10.3 per cent to 1.3 million tonnes this year following the outbreak of the Infectious Salmon Anemia virus at Chilean farms.

Norwegian-based Marine Harvest ASA, the world's largest salmon farmer, expects supply to fall short of demand as Chile's output will take as long as six years to return to levels seen before a virus ravaged its fish farms.

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