It is ironic that this story should come out just one day after Digital Journal reported on the closing of sardine fishing this year on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. because mention was made of the fluctuation in sardine populations.
But this recent sardine die-off in Chile is probably not a natural fluctuation of the sardine population. According to a statement on Chile’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (SERNAPESCA) website, the entire area has been declared a human health hazard and the dead sardines have been banned for consumption.
According to EcoWatch, seven areas of the estuary have been affected by the massive die-off, with Playa de Los Piños getting hit the hardest. The catastrophe comes at a bad time for the fishing industry as the country struggles to restock its fisheries.
To add to the woes, sardine and anchovy fishing were recently closed to commercial fishing because of low catch numbers, which seems to go along with the low numbers of sardines being reported along the California Pacific Coast.
El Pais is reporting that while SERNAPESCA originally blamed the sardine deaths on industrial and artisanal vessels on the river, they backed off after Chilean health authorities denied the accusation. Hernan Machua, a local fisherman, told El Pais that about 1,000 tons of dead sardines have been removed from the river so far and several thousand tons are still left. He added that governmental help was desperately needed in the clean-up.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about this sardine die-off. We don’t know why it happened or where it originated. We also don’t know if other fish species might be affected. SERNAPESCA is aware that sardine populations do fluctuate and are common in the area for several reasons. One of them is hypoxia or a depletion of oxygen in the water.
One month ago, Digital Journal reported that Chile’s salmon industry was sent into a tailspin after a deadly toxic algae bloom caused the death of 23 million salmon, or 15 percent of Chile’s salmon production, leading to economic losses that could reach more than $800 million.
People in Queule are getting frustrated over the government’s slow response in cleaning up the dead fish. Health concerns are growing as the fish continue to pile up along the shoreline. Euronews is reporting that a similar incident occurred last month when over four tons of sardines washed up on the beaches of Los Rios.
