Chilean Atlantic salmon biomass fell 5.5% year on year at the end of May, extending a decline from 4.9% in April, according to a new report from Pareto Securities.
The investment bank said May harvest volumes declined 3.6% year on year, while biomass production was 7% below the level recorded a year earlier.
The number of fish in the water increased month on month following higher stocking activity but remained 0.8% lower than a year earlier. Rolling 12-month smolt stocking was up 3.1% year on year, although the number of 25-gram fish in the sea was down 4%.
Pareto forecasts Chilean salmon production growth of 1.6% in 2026. Year-to-date harvest growth stood at 11.9% at the end of May, down from 16% after April.
The analysts said the latest biomass figures support their expectation that Chile will enter a period of negative production growth in the coming months, a development they believe would be supportive of Norwegian salmon producers.