Islandgirl
Well-Known Member
Salmon virus tilts scales in favour of British Columbia
Brenda Bouw
19:46 EST Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010
Vancouver — A virus that devastated the Chilean salmon industry is driving up global prices, bringing an unintended boon to British Columbia's embattled farmed-salmon business.
Salmon spot prices have nearly doubled in the past year, following a sharp drop in global supply because of the outbreak of infectious salmon anemia in Chile, the world's second-biggest source.
But the benefits for British Columbia, the fourth-largest producer globally, will go only so far because of a recent moratorium on the expansion of fish farms in the province.
That could mean even higher salmon prices in the months ahead, as global salmon supply is expected to fall this year for the first time in almost a decade.
Spot salmon prices averaged $4.33 (U.S.) a pound in January in the United States, compared with $2.77 at the same time last year, according to New Jersey-based Urner Barry Publications Inc., which tracks market prices of fish and other foods. Prices hit a 52-week high of $4.55 on Feb. 9.
The salmon spot price is a benchmark based on a two-to-three-pound fresh, farmed Chilean Atlantic salmon fillet sold in the United States.
Chile's salmon stocks are expected to drop by up to 70 per cent this year, causing global supply to drop by about 7 per cent, according to Norwegian-based Marine Harvest ASA, the world's largest salmon farmer.
Norway, which is the No. 1 source of salmon globally, is expected to offset some of that drop by increasing production.
Ian Roberts, a spokesman for Marine Harvest's operations in British Columbia, said that while higher prices are good for profits, the business can only grow so much because of the provincial restrictions. Marine Harvest is the world's biggest seafood producer, and the largest producer of farmed salmon.
“The ability to find new sites has been limited and that's because of public concern about the business,” he said.
Fish farms in B.C. have been criticized for introducing Atlantic salmon into the Pacific Ocean; it is considered a non-native species that threats biodiversity. The province last month announced a ban on new fish farm licences until the transfer of the industry to the federal government is completed, likely later this year. About 70 per cent of B.C. salmon is exported to the United States.
There are no expansion restrictions in Atlantic Canada, where the salmon farming industry is about two-thirds the size of the one in B.C. The Atlantic industry is planning to expand more aggressively as a result of the global salmon shortage.
“It's an opportunity for us in terms of price, but also to brand ourselves,” said Nell Halse, a spokeswoman for New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture, which has fish farms across Atlantic Canada as well as Maine.
It also bought a fish farm company in Chile two years ago, which Ms. Halse said has not been hit by the virus.
Wild salmon is a separate industry, but some environmentalists blame the rise in fish farms for the dwindling stocks of wild salmon, as well as changing ocean conditions as a result of global warming.
Last year, B.C.'s Fraser River sockeye run was only about one million salmon, a shocking drop from the forecast of 11 million.
SALMON ANEMIA FACTS
Infectious salmon anemia, also known as ISA, is an influenza-like virus that targets the blood system of Atlantic salmon, causing severe anemia and death.
The disease was first discovered on fish farms in Norway in the mid-1980s, followed by New Brunswick and Scotland in the late 1990s. The outbreak in Chile began a few years ago.
There is no cure, and slaughter of infected stocks is compulsory in Canada and Europe.
To prevent its spread, many countries have “biosecurity” measures in places, such as separating farms by a distance of at least five kilometres and controlling ship and personnel movements around the sites.
The annual cost of infectious ISA outbreaks among farmed fish was reported to be $11-million (U.S.) in Norway, $14-million in Canada, and $32-million in Scotland.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the virus has no impact on human health, and fish that have it are safe to eat and handle.
Brenda Bouw
19:46 EST Wednesday, Feb 24, 2010
Vancouver — A virus that devastated the Chilean salmon industry is driving up global prices, bringing an unintended boon to British Columbia's embattled farmed-salmon business.
Salmon spot prices have nearly doubled in the past year, following a sharp drop in global supply because of the outbreak of infectious salmon anemia in Chile, the world's second-biggest source.
But the benefits for British Columbia, the fourth-largest producer globally, will go only so far because of a recent moratorium on the expansion of fish farms in the province.
That could mean even higher salmon prices in the months ahead, as global salmon supply is expected to fall this year for the first time in almost a decade.
Spot salmon prices averaged $4.33 (U.S.) a pound in January in the United States, compared with $2.77 at the same time last year, according to New Jersey-based Urner Barry Publications Inc., which tracks market prices of fish and other foods. Prices hit a 52-week high of $4.55 on Feb. 9.
The salmon spot price is a benchmark based on a two-to-three-pound fresh, farmed Chilean Atlantic salmon fillet sold in the United States.
Chile's salmon stocks are expected to drop by up to 70 per cent this year, causing global supply to drop by about 7 per cent, according to Norwegian-based Marine Harvest ASA, the world's largest salmon farmer.
Norway, which is the No. 1 source of salmon globally, is expected to offset some of that drop by increasing production.
Ian Roberts, a spokesman for Marine Harvest's operations in British Columbia, said that while higher prices are good for profits, the business can only grow so much because of the provincial restrictions. Marine Harvest is the world's biggest seafood producer, and the largest producer of farmed salmon.
“The ability to find new sites has been limited and that's because of public concern about the business,” he said.
Fish farms in B.C. have been criticized for introducing Atlantic salmon into the Pacific Ocean; it is considered a non-native species that threats biodiversity. The province last month announced a ban on new fish farm licences until the transfer of the industry to the federal government is completed, likely later this year. About 70 per cent of B.C. salmon is exported to the United States.
There are no expansion restrictions in Atlantic Canada, where the salmon farming industry is about two-thirds the size of the one in B.C. The Atlantic industry is planning to expand more aggressively as a result of the global salmon shortage.
“It's an opportunity for us in terms of price, but also to brand ourselves,” said Nell Halse, a spokeswoman for New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture, which has fish farms across Atlantic Canada as well as Maine.
It also bought a fish farm company in Chile two years ago, which Ms. Halse said has not been hit by the virus.
Wild salmon is a separate industry, but some environmentalists blame the rise in fish farms for the dwindling stocks of wild salmon, as well as changing ocean conditions as a result of global warming.
Last year, B.C.'s Fraser River sockeye run was only about one million salmon, a shocking drop from the forecast of 11 million.
SALMON ANEMIA FACTS
Infectious salmon anemia, also known as ISA, is an influenza-like virus that targets the blood system of Atlantic salmon, causing severe anemia and death.
The disease was first discovered on fish farms in Norway in the mid-1980s, followed by New Brunswick and Scotland in the late 1990s. The outbreak in Chile began a few years ago.
There is no cure, and slaughter of infected stocks is compulsory in Canada and Europe.
To prevent its spread, many countries have “biosecurity” measures in places, such as separating farms by a distance of at least five kilometres and controlling ship and personnel movements around the sites.
The annual cost of infectious ISA outbreaks among farmed fish was reported to be $11-million (U.S.) in Norway, $14-million in Canada, and $32-million in Scotland.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the virus has no impact on human health, and fish that have it are safe to eat and handle.
