As a result of the Puelche wind storm and strongly adverse climatic conditions, the “Caicura” farming center, located in Reloncaví Sound, Hualaihué municipality, Palena province, Los Lagos region, and operated by Salmones Blumar S.A., suffered the sinking of the farming module during the early morning hours of Saturday, June 27, which immediately activated safety and contingency protocols that allowed for a rapid preventive maritime evacuation of 13 employees who were on the pontoon performing their regular duties, being transferred to the city of Puerto Montt, who are in good condition after being rescued.
Blumar’s General Manager, Gerardo Balbontín, deeply regretted the incident and emphasized that, fortunately, no persons were injured and all employees are safe. “As a result of strong easterly winds and receding currents, the farming module sank, causing 16 of the 18 cage rafts that compose it to go underwater, with the consequent potential escape of cultured fish,” he said and added that the incident occurred just after midnight on Saturday, June 27, at approximately 00:10 hours.
At this time, damage to the pontoon has not been assessed, and as soon as climatic conditions permit, two ships and a tugboat, loaded with materials and flotation elements, prepared by Blumar’s Logistics Area, will enter to begin assessment work on the module.
Blumar’s General Manager, Gerardo Balbontín, commented that the farming center had 875,144 fish on record as of yesterday, in the fattening stage, with an average weight of 3.828 kilos, with the exact magnitude of the fish escape currently unknown. “Today our concern is to mitigate the environmental impact that this fish escape represents, and to do so from the first minute, the contingency protocols stipulated by law were activated, and our team, as climatic and safety conditions permit, will advance on this, in addition to recovering structures. This event hits us hard since the Company has been working with the complexities presented by the global health crisis caused by Coronavirus,” he concluded.
