Marine Harvest Chile refuses to provide info

Marine Harvest Chile Salmon farmOn Chilean salmon farms like this one, record antibiotic use and crowded conditions are spurring concerns about drug-resistant bacteria. Photo Credit: Sam Beebe / Creative Commons

Marine Harvest won’t provide info on antibiotic use

Marine Harvest Chile refuses to provide information on antibiotic use and resorts to Constitutional Court, according to Oceana. Oceana has issued a press release on January 18th stating this.

 

Marine conservation organization Oceana expressed that the attitude displayed by Marine Harvest, currently termed Mowi, was unfortunate and a way to delay the provision of information. This, regarding the fact that the company presented a non-applicability appeal this week before the Constitutional Court. The Norwegian company aims to overrule the sentence issued by the Council for Transparency which ordered the provision of data regarding its antibiotic use between years 2015 and 2017. This is the only company in the industry to resort to this instance.

Unfortunate attitude

“Marine Harvest’s attitude is unfortunate, considering that the only thing that is being achieved is a delay in the delivery of information and denying consumers legitimate access to learn how salmon is produced in the country’s southern area”, said Javiera Calisto, Marine Pollution Campaign Manager at Oceana Chile. “The bill that is being currently discussed at Congress aims for the information to be updated and publicly available, preventing situations such as this”, she added. 

The bill she refers to states that salmon producing companies must provide data on their production and use of antibiotics separately, by business and by the salmon breeding farm to the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), an organization that is required to publish this information so that any natural person can have access to it.

Oceana demanded information in 2018

It should be noted that in February 2018, Oceana, based on the transparency law, requested Sernapesca information on the amount and type of antibiotics used by business and salmon farm, in addition to information on biomass produced during the years 2015, 2016, and 2017. Of 24 companies, 18 refused to provide data, after which Oceana turned to the Council for Transparency. Last August, this entity resolved that the information was public in nature, proving the marine conservation organization right.

After the resolution, most of the businesses abided by the ruling, granting Oceana access to the information, except for Marine Harvest and Ventisqueros which filed illegality complaints before the Court of Appeals. In addition, the Norwegian company filed a non-applicability appeal before the Constitutional Court, which has yet to be allowed.

Several companies have complied

“After many years of judicial disputes, several companies in the salmon industry have understood the importance of transparency and have delivered the information through the supervising authority, which is how it should be done”, stated Calisto. “But to be able to fully gauge the real state of antibiotic use we need a commitment from the entire industry”, she added.

Marine Harvest is part of the Global Salmon Initiative, an organization comprised of 15 members that operate in eight countries; transparency is among its three fundamental principles. “It is totally contradictory for this company to be a member of this international group which declares it safeguards sustainability and transparency, while in Chile the company is doing the exact opposite of what they declare”, accused Calisto. “For example, Salmones Blumar, another company member of the group, was willing to provide information to Oceana from the very beginning, acting in coherence with the principles they declare”, she stated.

 


  • The Council for Transparency ordered all salmon farming companies to provide Oceana data on their antibiotic use during 2015, 2016 and 2017.
  • Bill that aims to make monthly publications of antibiotic use and biomass production mandatory, by businesses and salmon farms is expected to be voted on in upcoming weeks.



© Oceana / #Norway Today