Fish Farm Workers First to get Fired - Updated June 3, 2016

Chile's algal bloom of March 2016 resulted in the loss of more than 125,000 mt of killed farmed salmon, some 25 million dead fish.

Fish farms always say they bring jobs to rural areas in need of employment, but twice in the past decade have laid off 13,000 to 26,000 workers in the ISA crisis in 2008, and now, less than a decade later, the algal bloom caused by an El Nino, fish farm sewage, and dumping of more than 75,000 mt of dead fish less than 50 miles off shore has brought the total of jobs lost this time to 10,000.

Fish farms are a boom bust industry and workers lose. Even in BC, Marine Harvest let 60 staff go just before Christmas a few years ago - and it won't take long for it to happen again, as owner, Fredriksen sold off $548 million MH shares recently, betting on a bust. Oh, and, Aarskog, CEO, wasn't laid off. MH lost 2.5 million fish in the algal bloom.

Currently, the 10,000 plus jobs lost are comprised of:

"According to estimates by Universidad Mayor economist Tomas Flores the total job losses are comprised of 5,000 small-scale fishers who have stopped work because of a ban on fishing, 4,000 aquaculture industry workers -- including salmon farmers -- and another 2,300 indirect jobs."

See:  https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/05/30/salmon-crisis-red-tide-to-double-unemployment-southern-chilean-region/?utm_source=Undercurrent+News+Alerts&utm_campaign=3e6b2843cf-Americas_briefing_May_30_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_feb55e2e23-3e6b2843cf-92426209.

The small-scale fishers job loss are a direct result of the fish farm fish/algal bloom. They carried out a 17-day strike in May that paralyzed farmed salmon shipments, including feed, to protest the ban on fishing that the government applied after officials discovered high levels of toxins in seafood caused by the red tide.


And now, Marine Harvest has laid off some more staff  in Chile:  http://www.intrafish.com/news/761871/marine-harvest-announces-layoffs-at-chilean-plant.

Because of salmon deaths, MH is laying off staff, about 145 in total. What this means is that in an industry in which disease kills, according to Professor Kibenge in PEI, one third to one half of its animals, workers are the front line pawns, sorry, that is harsh, as each individual situation is a personal tragedy, fish farm companies let them go. The alternative is on-land, closed containment and no one needs to get fired.

See: The Kibenge document: http://www.oie.int/eng/A_aquatic/Docs/Presentations/1.11Kibenge.ppt.