CHILE: subsidies for the salmon farming industry

President Bachelet announced on 27/11/2008 a package of measures for the ailing salmon farming industry in Chile.

Among the announced measures Ms Bachelet mentioned financial support for the industry that will take the shape of a new bank guarantee in the framework of the CORFO programme. The government’s sponsored bank guarantee is intended so that salmon farming companies can buy equipment such as recirculation systems, wellboats, waste management but also for to move cages in other sites.

The ceiling of the guarantee will be raised from 50% to 60% of the loans with a maximum of US$ 8 million per loan. The specific guarantee programme should cover a total amount of US$ 120 million. The government expects that the guarantee will generate a total investment of US$ 400 million. According to industry sources a substantial amount of the money will be used to change the production methods so as to eradicate the control the spread of and eventually eradicate the Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus.

Other measures announced by Ms Bachelet concerned additional spending in Research and Development to finance, together with Norway and Canada, activities such as the conclusion of the sequencing of the salmon genoma. Other R&D initiatives include research to assess whether the ISA virus has affected other areas.

Finally Ms Bachelet suggested measures to make sure that “workers in the salmon farming industry do not pay the price as they are not guilty of what is going on in the industry”. Among the suggested measures Ms Bachelet mentioned a system to monitor the level of employment in the industry.

The full text of the speech of Ms Bachelet with the announcement of the measures can be found here:

http://www.prensapresidencia.cl/view/viewArticulosGeneral.asp?codigo=4967&tipo=Discurso