Oceana expressed its concerns that the Salmon Aquaculture Taskforce for Chile has not yet established a formula for reducing the use of antibiotics in farmed salmon. The organization said that the programme for the reduction in antibiotic use should have been in place by the end of June. It is said that the Chilean Minister for the Economy, Hugo Lavados has established the task force to identify problems in the Chilean fish farming industry and to set out a programme to rectify the issues.
It is said that the task force was started in June and was given 30 days to come forward with a report. Alex Munoz, the vice president for Oceana South America, opined it worries them that the Salmon Task Force has not complied with the terms laid out for it and the deadline they had set themselves. According to him this is a bad sign because it shows that the government is not committed to solving these important environmental problems that have been caused by the salmon industry.
He states that both the credibility of the government and the salmon industry are at stake. Oceana also said that the solution to the antibiotic problem would eventually be founds through good practice in the industry. According to Munoz the use of antibiotic cannot be allowed to remain in the hands of good practice or the will of the industry. He further said that Chile needs strong regulations that will limit the use of these chemicals and prohibit the use of quinolones.
