Photo: Salmones Camanchaca
Salmones Camanchaca, one of Chile’s main salmon farming and processing companies, has been badly hit by an algal bloom invasion which is expected to cost the business at least US $3.5m (£2.53m).
The incidents occurred in the Los Lagos region in the south of the country and have led to the deaths, so far, of around 162,000 fish.
Another salmon company, Multiexport Foods, is also reported to have been affected and the mortality in this second incident is thought to be around 120 tonnes.
Algal blooms are a natural phenomenon which are very difficult to control or predict. They suck up so much oxygen in the water that the fish in farm cages suffocate.