The Salmones Austral RAS fish farm is operating at 80% of its capacity and in 2023 produced post-smolts of 327 grams. The company is already evaluating the construction of a hatchery.
The Los Arrayanes recirculation fish farm of Salmones Austral, located in the Reloncaví Estuary area, began its operation at the end of November 2021 with the entry of the first 650 thousand fingerlings of 30 grams of average weight.
Two and a half years later, the facilities are operating at 80% of their maximum capacity (DIA), where 100% of the company’s Atlantic salmon post-smolt is also being grown.
From post-smolts of 258 grams in 2022, they went to fish of 327 grams in 2023. The 2024 group should be similar to that of 2023, to probably go to 350 or 400 grams in 2025, according to Andrés Sepúlveda Cid, who tells Salmonexpert. Fresh Water Production Manager.
“In our operations, the logic is occurring that larger fish stocked in the sea reach harvest sooner. What we had initially projected is now being fulfilled, allowing us to harvest our fish two months earlier. Once some health issues have been resolved, our fish are running with a performance of 110% of our model,” details Andrés.
And also, according to what the executive mentions, these post-smolts are marine fish coming from a 100% saline environment, which is far from the traditional open flow culture for Atlantic salmon.
The post-smolts produced in the Los Arrayanes RAS are better adapted to coming from a marine environment, reaching high feeding rates equal to those obtained in fish farming a few days after being planted.
Furthermore, in terms of performance, post-smolts have a higher condition index (k), which ranges between 1.25 and 1.45, that is, they are a more robust fish with a better condition to face marine conditions.
And in health terms? The Freshwater Production manager explains that, for example, the Antibiotic Consumption Index (AICA) has dropped considerably in these fish, “which indicates that in general they are in a better condition to withstand marine environments.”
Relationship with the community
Another point that the manager highlights is the relationship with the community in the sector and its open door policy, which has allowed both neighbors and schools to visit our facilities.
But, on the other hand, they also work with the community. In that sense, Sepúlveda highlights the ventures that they have generated together with the surrounding community. “For example,
the food service for staff provided by a local business, for which we provide the facilities. “Same case for the transportation of personnel, given by an entrepreneur in the sector hired by the company.”Regarding direct employment, around 46 people work at the facilities, including Operators, Administrative, Technicians and Professionals.
Projections
In 2023, several milestones were met for the company’s facilities. First, the consolidation of the productive project, and second, the improvement of the biosafety standard, use of diets designed for cost-effective RAS, high-performance genetics and energy solution with a sustainable perspective.
Soon, the company is evaluating the construction of a hatchery associated with fish farming to carry out the complete cycle, from egg to post-smolt.
Furthermore, according to Andrés, they will continue to evaluate future increases in output weights of the post-smolt, between 500, 600 or more, for which they are carrying out several internal tests in different centers and different periods, that is, a post-smolt tailored “which will allow us to evaluate the best strategy and validate our decision,” he concludes.
