A federal appeals court in Chile has ruled that the country’s salmon farmers have to disclose their level of antibiotic use, says Reuters. The international environmental group Oceana filed the claim for transparency in 2014, when Chilean salmon producers upped their antibiotic use by 25 percent in order to fight off a devastating bacteria known as SRS or Piscirickettsiosis. “The bacteria causes lesions and hemorrhaging in infected fish, and swells their kidneys and spleens, eventually killing them.”
Initially, 37 Chilean fish farms, backed by the country’s fisheries board, Sernapesca, as well as its transparency council, refused to provide the information over concerns that it would drive away buyers. In fact some retailers, including Costco, have dramatically decreased their salmon orders from the country over antibiotics concerns.
With the court ruling, however, Sernapesca, which said it “valued” the decision, will have to detail antibiotic use by company.