| | | What Kenneth fails to post again is El Niño, AND, the runoff of livestock waste which has caused the algae bloom this year.
A deadly algal bloom has killed nearly 23 million fish in Chile, the world’s second-largest exporter of salmon, causing widespread economic losses that could cost the country $800 million. According to government officials, there are enough dead fish to fill 14 Olympic-sized swimming pools, and losses could account for as much as 15 percent of Chile’s total annual salmon production.
Abnormally high ocean temperatures fueled by one of the strongest El Niños in recorded history has helped the algal bloom flourish off of the Chilean coast, impacting 37 of the 415 salmon farms located either directly in the ocean or in estuaries, according to Reuters.
The loss is likely equivalent to somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of Chile’s total production for the yearThe Chilean government’s top fisheries official told Reuters that the ocean temperatures have been anywhere from 2 to 4 degrees Celsius above average. The warmer-than-normal waters, combined with mild winds, a lack of rain, and lot of sunlight, have become a perfect place for micro algae to bloom.
“The loss is likely equivalent to somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of Chile’s total production for the year … the forecast for 2016 was around 750,000 to 760,000 tonnes but now that’s reduced to around 650,000 [metric tons],” Jose Miguel Burgos, the head of the government’s Sernapesca fisheries body, said, adding that the 100,000 metric tons of lost product could total some $800 million in economic losses.
But it’s not just the El Niño weather pattern that is playing a factor in Chile’s massive bloom. According to Liesbeth van der Meer, who heads environmental group Oceana’s Chile operations, agricultural waste from neighboring livestock operations, which makes its way into the ocean via runoff, is also fueling the bloom. |
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