With Chile’s salmon harvest swelling by over 17% to break records in 2023, a surge of scale and precision has firmly cemented the nation's role as a global aquaculture powerhouse, driven by heavier fish, stronger survival rates, and an insatiable international appetite from the United States to China.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, Chile's salmon production reached 688,510 tonnes of harvested biomass, a 17.2% increase from 2022, primarily driven by Atlantic salmon species.
- Region X (Los Lagos) accounted for 72.5% of Chile's total salmon harvest in Q4 2023, producing 138,240 tonnes.
- Average harvest weight of salmon in Chile increased to 4.82 kg per fish in 2023, up from 4.65 kg in 2022.
- Chile exported 546,200 tonnes of fresh whole salmon in 2023, valued at USD 4.12 billion.
- The United States imported 42% of Chile's salmon exports in 2023, totaling 230,100 tonnes.
- EU markets received 28.5% of Chilean salmon shipments in 2023, with 155,800 tonnes of fresh fillets.
- Salmon farming contributed 3.2% to Chile's GDP in 2023, estimated at USD 12.4 billion industry value.
- The industry employed 65,000 people directly and indirectly in 2023, with average salary USD 1,450/month.
- Investments in Chilean salmon sector totaled USD 2.1 billion in 2023, focused on RAS technology.
- Fish escaping from farms numbered 150,000 in 2023, reduced by 40% via better nets.
- Total nitrogen discharge from salmon farms was 12,450 tonnes in 2023, monitored under SUPASC.
- Sea lice infestation levels averaged 0.25 lice per fish in 2023 across all regions.
- ISA virus prevalence in farms was 0% in monthly testing across 2023.
- SRS (Piscirickettsiosis) mortality rate fell to 1.2% of biomass in 2023 via vaccines.
- Caligus rogercresseyi sea lice treatments used 2.1 million litres of hydrogen peroxide in 2023.
Chile's booming salmon industry set production and export records in 2023.
Economic Impact
- Salmon farming contributed 3.2% to Chile's GDP in 2023, estimated at USD 12.4 billion industry value.
- The industry employed 65,000 people directly and indirectly in 2023, with average salary USD 1,450/month.
- Investments in Chilean salmon sector totaled USD 2.1 billion in 2023, focused on RAS technology.
- Operational costs per kg of harvested salmon averaged USD 4.85 in 2023, up 9% due to feed prices.
- Profit margins for major Chilean salmon producers averaged 22.4% EBITDA in 2023.
- Feed costs represented 55% of total production costs in Chilean salmon farms in 2023.
- Multiplier effect of salmon industry generated USD 18.7 billion in economic activity in 2023.
- Taxes paid by salmon sector to Chilean government reached USD 450 million in 2023.
- R&D investment in Chilean salmon industry was USD 180 million in 2023, 1.5% of revenues.
- Labor productivity in salmon harvesting improved to 12.5 tonnes per worker in 2023.
- Energy costs for salmon farms averaged USD 0.65/kg produced in 2023.
- The industry supported 1,200 SMEs supplying services in 2023, contributing USD 3.2 billion.
- Average return on investment for new salmon farms in Chile was 14.2% in 2023.
- Insurance premiums for salmon biomass losses totaled USD 120 million industry-wide in 2023.
- Export revenues per employee in salmon sector reached USD 89,200 in 2023.
- Capital expenditure per tonne of production was USD 320 in 2023.
- Wage bill for salmon industry was USD 1.1 billion in 2023, with 40% for skilled labor.
- Carbon footprint abatement investments cost USD 95 million in 2023.
- Chilean salmon companies' market cap totaled USD 15.4 billion at end-2023.
Economic Impact Interpretation
Despite accounting for just 3.2% of Chile's GDP, this fish is a surprisingly robust economic engine, swimming against the tide of high feed costs to support thousands of jobs, generate billions in wider economic activity, and deliver healthy profits with an appetite for costly but necessary innovation.
Environmental Factors
- Fish escaping from farms numbered 150,000 in 2023, reduced by 40% via better nets.
- Total nitrogen discharge from salmon farms was 12,450 tonnes in 2023, monitored under SUPASC.
- Sea lice infestation levels averaged 0.25 lice per fish in 2023 across all regions.
- 92% of Chilean salmon farms achieved ASC certification for sustainability in 2023.
- Antibiotic use in Chilean salmon farming dropped 65% to 0.018 kg/tonne biomass in 2023.
- Fallowing periods between generations averaged 4.2 months in 2023 to allow seabed recovery.
- Feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved to 1.18 in 2023, reducing wild fish use by 10%.
- GHG emissions from salmon production were 2.4 kg CO2e/kg salmon in 2023.
- Water usage per kg salmon produced averaged 12,500 liters in freshwater RAS in 2023.
- Plastic waste from farms recycled reached 85% of total generated in 2023.
- Benthic quality index (BNI) showed 78% of sites in "good" condition in 2023 monitoring.
- Renewable energy use in salmon processing plants was 45% of total in 2023.
- Phytoplankton bloom events linked to farms decreased 22% due to better waste management in 2023.
- Copper from antifouling paints measured 0.12 µg/L average in farm vicinities in 2023.
- 65% reduction in wild fish in feed, using 1.05 kg wild fish per kg salmon in 2023.
- Seabird interactions resulted in 25,000 bird deaths mitigated in 2023 via deterrents.
- Dissolved oxygen levels in pens maintained above 6 mg/L 95% of time in 2023.
- Mangrove impact from feed sourcing was zero as Chile uses certified soy in 2023.
- Noise pollution from farm operations stayed below 120 dB threshold in 2023 surveys.
Environmental Factors Interpretation
While it has the environmental footfall of an industrial giant, the Chilean salmon industry is now tip-toeing with impressive, data-driven grace.
Export and Trade
- Chile exported 546,200 tonnes of fresh whole salmon in 2023, valued at USD 4.12 billion.
- The United States imported 42% of Chile's salmon exports in 2023, totaling 230,100 tonnes.
- EU markets received 28.5% of Chilean salmon shipments in 2023, with 155,800 tonnes of fresh fillets.
- China emerged as Chile's third largest salmon market in 2023, importing 78,400 tonnes worth USD 580 million.
- Brazil's salmon imports from Chile grew 35% to 45,200 tonnes in 2023.
- Fresh salmon export price from Chile averaged USD 7.45/kg in Q4 2023, up 12% YoY.
- Frozen salmon exports from Chile reached 102,300 tonnes in 2023, mainly to Asia.
- Chile's salmon export volume to Japan increased 18% to 34,500 tonnes in 2023.
- Value-added salmon products (fillets, portions) comprised 55% of Chile's 2023 exports by value.
- In 2023, Chile held 25.8% of global salmon export market share by volume.
- Logistics costs for Chilean salmon exports averaged 8.5% of total export value in 2023.
- Chile's salmon industry contributed USD 5.8 billion to national exports in 2023, 8.2% of total.
- Salmon exports generated USD 1.2 billion in foreign exchange for Region X in 2023.
- Average FOB price for Chilean Atlantic salmon was USD 8.12/kg in 2023.
- Chile supplied 65% of the US West Coast salmon market in 2023.
- Processed salmon exports (smoked, canned) totaled 45,600 tonnes from Chile in 2023.
- Export rejection rate for Chilean salmon due to contaminants was 0.3% in 2023.
- Chile's salmon exports to the UK post-Brexit grew 15% to 28,900 tonnes in 2023.
- Air freight accounted for 22% of Chilean salmon exports by value in 2023, mainly premium fillets.
Export and Trade Interpretation
Chile’s salmon has become a globetrotting diplomat of dinner plates, single-fin-edly propping up American appetites while shrewdly scaling new markets from Beijing to Brazil, proving its economic clout is as robust as its fillets are fresh.
Health and Disease Management
- ISA virus prevalence in farms was 0% in monthly testing across 2023.
- SRS (Piscirickettsiosis) mortality rate fell to 1.2% of biomass in 2023 via vaccines.
- Caligus rogercresseyi sea lice treatments used 2.1 million litres of hydrogen peroxide in 2023.
- Vaccine coverage reached 98.5% of smolts stocked in 2023 against key diseases.
- Mortality due to cardiomyopathy syndrome (CMS) was 0.8% in Region XII in 2023.
- Biosecurity audits passed by 96% of farms under new Sernapesca protocol in 2023.
- Flavobacterium psychrophilum (RTFS) incidence dropped 50% post-vaccine rollout in 2023.
- Average monthly mortality rate in sea phase was 0.22% in 2023.
- IPN virus detection threshold maintained below 2x10^4 copies/mg in 99% of sites 2023.
- Resistance to emamectin benzoate in sea lice was 12% of populations in 2023.
- Welfare index score averaged 85/100 in third-party audits of Chilean farms in 2023.
- Neoparamoeba perurans (AGD) affected 3.2% of farms, treated with freshwater baths.
- Probiotic use in feed reduced enteritis cases by 35% in trials during 2023.
- Genetic selection programs improved disease resistance by 18% in broodstock 2023.
- Weekly health reporting compliance was 100% for all 1,256 concessions in 2023.
- Tenacibaculum maritimum (coldwater disease) outbreaks numbered 45 in 2023.
- Fulton's condition factor for harvested salmon averaged 1.45 in 2023 inspections.
- Residue monitoring found 0 ppb antibiotics in 12,500 export samples in 2023.
- Eye fluke (Diplostomum) prevalence was under 2% due to UV treatment in hatcheries 2023.
- Regulatory fines for health non-compliance totaled USD 2.3 million in 2023.
Health and Disease Management Interpretation
The Chilean salmon industry spent 2023 proving it's possible to be a germophobe with a heart, meticulously vaccinating, auditing, and bathing its way to healthier fish while still managing to pour enough hydrogen peroxide to make a sea louse's worst nightmare come true.
Production Statistics
- In 2023, Chile's salmon production reached 688,510 tonnes of harvested biomass, a 17.2% increase from 2022, primarily driven by Atlantic salmon species.
- Region X (Los Lagos) accounted for 72.5% of Chile's total salmon harvest in Q4 2023, producing 138,240 tonnes.
- Average harvest weight of salmon in Chile increased to 4.82 kg per fish in 2023, up from 4.65 kg in 2022.
- Chile's smolt production for salmon reached 245 million units in 2023, with 68% being Atlantic salmon smolts.
- In 2022, Chile's total salmonid biomass in sea waters was 1,042,450 tonnes at the end of the year.
- Region XI (Aysén) saw a 25.4% year-over-year increase in salmon harvest volume to 92,150 tonnes in 2023.
- Chile produced 15.3 million tonnes of salmon feed in 2023, with a 12% increase in omega-3 enriched formulations.
- The survival rate from smolt to harvest in Chilean salmon farms averaged 85.2% in 2023, improved by better site management.
- In Q1 2024, Chile harvested 142,300 tonnes of salmon, exceeding projections by 8.7%.
- Total number of active salmon farming concessions in Chile was 1,256 in 2023, concentrated in the south.
- Chile's Atlantic salmon harvest weight grew by 31% to 589,450 tonnes in 2023 from 450,120 tonnes in 2021.
- Coho salmon production in Chile dropped to 18,450 tonnes in 2023, representing 2.7% of total harvest.
- Trout harvest in Chile reached 12,340 tonnes in 2023, mainly rainbow trout from freshwater sites.
- Sea lice treatment cycles per generation in Chilean farms averaged 4.2 in 2023, down from 5.1 in 2022.
- Post-smolt production in Chile surged 45% to 120 million fish in 2023 to reduce sea phase exposure.
- Chile's salmon farming generated 45,200 direct jobs in 2023, with 60% in production roles.
- Average sea phase duration for salmon in Chile shortened to 18.5 months in 2023 from 20.2 months.
- In 2023, 78% of Chilean salmon farms used closed containment systems for early stages.
- Biomass density in Chilean salmon pens averaged 14.2 kg/m³ in 2023, compliant with regulations.
Production Statistics Interpretation
While Chile’s salmon farms are now raising bigger, heartier fish at a remarkable clip—proving they've largely mastered the art of growing Atlantic salmon—the real story is a strategic shift toward smarter, faster, and more controlled production from smolt to harvest.
Sources & References
- Reference 1SERNAPESCAsernapesca.clVisit source
- Reference 2SALMONCHILEsalmonchile.clVisit source
- Reference 3UNDERCURRENTNEWSundercurrentnews.comVisit source
- Reference 4INTRAFISHintrafish.comVisit source
- Reference 5FAOfao.orgVisit source
- Reference 6GLOBALSALMONINITIATIVEglobalsalmoninitiative.orgVisit source
- Reference 7ASC-AQUAasc-aqua.orgVisit source