StofnFiskur hf of Iceland recently announced that it has been approved by the Chilean Fisheries and Aquaculture Authorities, Sernapesca, in accordance with the OIE Compartment standard, for all four of its salmon production sites in Iceland. According to a press release from the company, it is the first breeding company in the world with this approval and is currently the only company authorized to export Atlantic salmon ova to Chile.
An OIE Compartments standard implies that there is a defined geographical zone surrounding the farms which is completely isolated and protected against external disease threats. All live material such as broodfish, smolt and ova can only be circulated within the defined compartment. The company is also subject to strict procedures, systems, controls and variance reporting as a part of the approval.
“We are very satisfied to be the first ova producer outside Chile to obtain this approval,” says Bára Gunnlaugsdottir, CSO of StofnFiskur hf. “The process of approval has been comprehensive, starting with a first approval by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority MAST. The next step was for MAST to apply to the Chilean Fisheries and Aquaculture Authorities, Sernapesca, which finally confirmed their approval in March.”
“Our four sites have been operated more or less according to the OIE compartment standard for a decade, and it was important for us to finally be able to document that our sites are 100% bio-secure through this approval,” Gunnlaugsdottir explained.
StofnFiskur hf is an Atlantic salmon breeding and genetics company based in Iceland. The head office is in Hafnarfjördur, outside Reykjavik and the company’s four production sites for broodstock and ova are based in the southwest corner of Iceland. StofnFiskur is owned by the British listed company Benchmark Holdings plc and is a sister company of Norwegian SalmoBreed AS.
For further information contact CEO of StofnFiskur, Dr. Jónas Jónasson, jonas.jonasson@stofnfiskur.is
What is OIE?
OIE is an acronym for the World Organisation for Animal Health. The organization’s objective is to improve animal health in the world and it is a reference organisation of WTO. In 2014, OIE had 180 membership countries and 45 relational countries. The head office is in Paris. For more information go to www.oie.int
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