Chilean salmon-farming stakeholders demand government take stance on future of aquaculture industry

Stakeholders within Chile’s salmon-farming industry have called on the nation’s government to more clearly define its stance on the future of the aquaculture sector, which is responsible for exports of more than USD 6.4 billion (EUR 6.1 billion) annually.“We need a countrywide vision. What does the country want? Salmon farming to be an economic pillar, like it is in Norway, or have it disappear as some NGOs want?” Blumar CEO Gerardo Balbontin said during the “Conversations for economic development” series of discussions recently hosted by business consultancy firm Deloitte.The current lack of a unified plan for aquaculture in Chile, he said, has led to complications, especially as there is an overlap of interests between the Indigenous population, conservationists, the salmon-farming industry, and artisanal fishers in the country over the use of the nation’s waters.One of the main problems, according to Marcos Singer, the director of Universidad Católica de Chile’s MBA program, is ...