The first Chilean salmon arrives in Australia

AquaChile and Camanchaca have sent fresh refrigerated salmon fillets to Australia for the first time. This marks the starting point for the export of Chilean products to benefit from a promising market.

First, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), with the valuable support of ProChile, carried out an audit process to verify compliance with the requirements set by the destination country.

Subsequently, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF) officially authorized the export of processed salmonids from Chile to Australia. Sernapesca was also established as the Competent Authority authorized for their sanitary and safety certification.

Regarding this achievement, Mario Aguilera, Corporate Manager of Logistics and Commercial Operations at Camanchaca, stated: "We are proud to be part of this milestone, representing the first shipment, hopefully of many, of salmon to Australia, which is an extremely demanding market. This shows that Chile has enormous capacity and potential to reach the most demanding markets with a sustainable product and healthy protein."

Additionally, AquaChile's Product Manager, Raimundo Nogueira, added: "For us, this milestone with the first shipment to Australia is very important because we believe there is a very relevant market in that country, where we can enter not only with Atlantic salmon but also with Pacific salmon."

One more country added to the list

Chile, which exports frozen and fresh salmon to 76 countries, surpassed US$ 6 billion in salmon exports in 2023. So far this year, exports have already reached US$ 4.1 billion. The main destination markets are the United States, Brazil, Russia, China, and the European Union.

Currently, Australia has been one of the destination markets for national marine products. Among them, fish oils stand out in 2023, with a volume of 2,760 tons, and frozen bivalve mollusks (758 tons).

"This milestone is of great importance for salmon exports, as it opens the doors to a market of over 26 million people, offering great potential for our positioning. Additionally, it creates diversification for shipments of this product and new opportunities for Chilean companies in the sector," said ProChile's International Director, Natalia Arcos.

In 2023, Australia started to accept Icelandic-farmed salmon imports. The country has some of the strictest biosecurity regulations worldwide, however, under the 2019 rules, "consumer-ready" salmon products from approved countries, including fillets of any weight, do not need to be held in biosecurity control.