The Sustainable Salmon program, (PEM), initiated by the Chilean economic development agency Corfo, has executed 68 projects in its first year of operation, reports Soy Chile.
At a recent meeting of the twenty member companies of the PEM program in Puerto Montt, regional director of Corfo Los Lagos, Adolfo Alvial, remarked that this initiative has managed to leverage financing of US $ 51 million in its first year (38% public contribution and 62% of private resources) through initiatives proposed to fund research, development and innovation (R&D&I), tax incentives, the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt), the Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Among the projects in the past year were the development of a monitoring kit for prediction of harmful algal blooms, research on substitutes for animal ingredients in feed and monitoring of productive models to delay the entry of smolt into the sea.
Also focus of research have been the identification of the main production risk factors for the national salmon farming industry and the definition of a model of analysis for the determination of production cost regulation of salmon.
“We are convinced that in the next stages the program will continue to bear fruit, towards a more sustainable Chilean salmon industry,” remarked Adolfo Alvial.
