Salmon industry used to rule in Chile and it has the long-term viability and so it is trying to regain its position. Carlos Chávez, an expert in environmental economy and natural resources at the University of Concepción, told that salmon farming expanded quickly, without a regulatory framework or adequate controls to prevent and anticipate environmental problems or the development of transmittable fish diseases.
Salmon farming was booming in Chile but in 1980s the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus began to spread through the fish farms in the southern Chilean regions of Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes. The virus forced producers to harvest the fish early and shut down operations in order to clear the waters. The fish farms hit bottom in January 2009. Javier Ugarte, president of the National Confederation of Salmon Workers, said that the situation is catastrophic — with former workers losing their homes, and no money to send their children to school or even to eat.
The response to the crisis was a reform of the 1991 Fishing and Aquaculture Law, which entered into force in April of this year to regulate — among other things — the permits, operation and duration of the concessions, momentarily putting the brakes on expansion of the industry in some regions. In the long term, these reforms may generate better environmental and health conditions, because they provide more regulation and monitoring capacity.
The salmon farm owners say they have gone through a “self-critical” process and voluntarily adopted stricter standards. Rodrigo Vidal, an expert with the University of Santiago, said that the industry is not going to survive if it doesn’t incorporate biotechnological tools.
