THE potential of Chile's aquaculture industry has "no limits" according to the Chilean Under Secretary for Fisheries, Felipe Sandoval. Mr Sandoval made the comment at Chile's first national mussel exhibition, Expomytilus 2005, held on the island of Chiloe in late November. He said the exhibition will have great consequences and is the reflection of developments in the industry over the last few years. "We have the example of the enormous growth of the salmon farming industry, where Chile is already the world's leader. Mussel growing has even larger prospects than those of the salmon industry. The activity is in the middle of a great expansion and once it is consolidated, we must begin to consider the farming of other species. The potential of Chile's aquaculture has no limits," Mr. Sandoval said. Mr Sandoval's comments were supported by the Chiloe Mussel Growers' Association chairman Gonzalo Fernandez. "The great growth of Chile's mussel farming industry is a reality and during the last two years this activity has increased steadily. In 2003 we produced 53,000 tonnes of mussels, in 2004 the figure increased to 78,000 tonnes and today we are increasing even more," he said.
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