The use of antibiotics in the Chilean salmon industry has been largely a consequence of the difficulties in effectively preventing SRS, a disease caused by the intracellular bacterium Piscirickettsia salmonis, which is complex to control and present in all salmon-producing countries. The disease has recently proliferated in various territories, including the northern hemisphere. This health situation has prompted the industry and authorities in Chile to seek new preventative strategies to improve the health and well-being of fish, as well as to reduce the dependence on antimicrobial treatments.

In this context, the Yelcho Alliance was formed in January 2024. It followed a process of rapprochement between the salmon farming industry, the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) and the National Fisheries Service (SERNAPESCA), which demonstrated the need to create a permanent public-private body.

The companies Australis Seafoods, Blumar, Camanchaca, Cermaq Chile, Cultivos Yadrán, Mowi Chile, Multi X, Salmones Austral, Marine Farm and Ventisqueros– which together represent around 73% of Atlantic salmon production in Chile – signed an agreement with SAG and SERNAPESCA through the SalmonChile and Consejo de Salmón (Salmon Council) trade associations, thus forming the Yelcho Alliance. This initiative marks a milestone in public-private collaboration in Chilean aquaculture, under the coordination and technical support of the Aquabench consultancy firm.

The central objective of the Yelcho Alliance is to seek, promote, develop and implement immunological solutions to effectively prevent bacterial diseases in salmon farming – such as SRS – and thus reduce the use of antibiotics, in accordance with the guidelines of the National Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance.