Eight Chilean and international environmental organizations have appeal the Minister of Economy, Hugo Lavados, to stop the granting of aquaculture tenures to farm salmon in the Regions of Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes. It is said that the request will be held until there are regulatory, institutional and factual conditions that to decide on whether or not it is convenient to promote the expansion of these activities in areas of ecological importance in those three regions of Southern Chile.
The letter expressed concern about the aggressive expansion of salmon farming in Patagonia and it is believed that this development is occurring without having sufficient conditions that enable guaranteeing the appropriate preservation of the ecosystem in the area, and without giving a prime importance to the precautionary principle. The letter explained that it is not convenient to continue granting aquaculture tenures and issuing environmental qualification resolutions, as long as there is no clarity on the new statute that will rule over the salmon farming sector, even more so, when no measure has been implemented to assure that Patagonian ecosystems are preserved, even to a minimum, in the face of the effects of aquaculture activities.
According to NGOs the growth of salmon farming has been supported by insufficient and obsolete regulations that are not in agreement with the magnitude of the international industry. It is said that these regulations have not been able to guarantee the health of ecosystems and the preservation of the environment in the Southernmost areas of Chile, neither have they made this industrial activity compatible with other economic activities that have a lower impact and which were traditionally carried out in the area.
