May 17, 2022

 

Chile considers moratorium on farmed salmon sector

 

 

Chilean President Gabriel Boric is reportedly considering a moratorium on the farmed salmon sector that would halt its expansion in the country.

 

Previously, as a member of Chile's congress, Boric questioned the environmental sustainability of the country's US$5.2 billion salmon-farming industry. During his time in the congress, he came to the conclusion that the country's salmon-farming industry "has been very thoughtless in its actions," a position he said he still holds as president.

 

According to reports in the local press, Boric called for "a moratorium on salmon farming, so that it doesn't continue to grow."

 

"As a minimum, there can be no salmon farming in protected areas," he added.

 

"We have to aim for development that doesn't destroy us, because to destroy the environment is to destroy ourselves," Boric said. "What is clear to me is that there can be no salmon-farming industry in marine protected areas. That's as simple as … enforcing the law."

 

Boric said, given the number of people that the salmon sector employs, the moratorium proposal should be debated openly. Any change to the current laws governing the salmon industry must be done under the understanding that a simple closure would leave families that depend on the industry in dire straits.

 

A bill introduced in Chile's Chamber of Deputies, or lower congressional house, at the end of 2021 would amend an existing law – Law No. 18,892 on Fisheries and Aquaculture – in a way that would exclude the cultivation of exotic hydrobiological species in protected areas – which includes salmon.

 

The proposal sets two years from the date the law would be published for the expiration of aquaculture concessions awarded in protected areas. The initiative looks to expand that protection to cover marine parks, national parks, national reserves and forests.

 

However, the removal or rescinding of salmon-farming concessions in protected areas will threaten the source of employment of more than 4,000 families, the Association of Salmon Farmers of Magallanes' executive director, Pablo Berazaluce, told SalmonExpert. 

 

"Currently, in the Magallanes region, there are 133 salmon concessions granted, which were granted before the creation of the Kawésqar National Reserve," he said. "When the reserve was created, about 50% of these concessions were within its limits. Therefore, eliminating them or allowing them to expire, as the bill intends, would affect around 50% of the production in the area and put at risk the industry's operational viability in the region, and the 6,400 direct and indirect jobs it generates."

 

Berazaluce said the area in question that salmon farms operate represents only 0.54 percent of the reserve's sea area. The farms operating there must comply with strict requirements and regulations, and that the aquaculture companies working in the area have never been found to be operating illegally, Berazaluce said.

 

"This is an issue of territorial management," he added. "The decision was made to transform the sea into a category of special protection and there are groups with specific interests that seek to expel salmon farming without thinking about the consequences."

- SeafoodSource