Chilean salmon exports in 2017 increased 22 percent over 2016 to reach a historic high of 523,038 tonnes, CNNChile has reported.
The value of exported salmon at year’s end reached USD 4.65 billion, the Spanish-language news service said.
Chile, however, lost 25 million salmon during a severe toxic algae bloom in 2016, so the numbers paint a dubious picture of year-on-year gains. Meanwhile, a new algae bloom at year’s end 2017 and at the start of 2018 is already causing fear of a repeat.
High salmon prices at the start of 2017 helped swell Chilean export values.
New U.S. marketing campaigns for Chilean salmon were also started during the year, although it is not clear if these have had any effect, as industry advocacy, SalmonChile, recently pondered out loud whether the industry needed to rebrand in the United States.
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