Patagonian toothfish is to be farmed in Chile for the first time, following investment of nearly US$500,000 in government funds.
The La Araucana Education Corporation has been awarded funds through the FONDEF project DO6i 1077 “Farming of Patagonian toothfish”.
Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is a much sought after resource. Once caught and processed, it is marketed as Chilean seabass.
The Patagonian toothfish fishery began in Chile in September 1991, when Chile began to offer fishing quotas for this species.
Landings of this resource had their peak in 1992 with 17,778 tonnes, but overfishing has caused a stricter regulation and the TAC for 2008 is just 3,000 tonnes.
Patagonian toothfish has a very high content of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and after several years of research and development, the La Araucana Education Corporation was awarded funding.
Project manager, Alberto Reyes told Fish Farmer: “This Project will last for four years and our main objective is to produce two to five grams of fry from ova incubated in a closed circuit and controlled water recirculation system."