A native of San Francisco, Christian Molinari has lived and worked in Chile for over 20 years, after having arrived in Santiago as a volunteer and falling in love with the culture and its people. He covered business news in Latin America for over a decade, worked in communications at IBM Chile, and currently freelances in strategic communications and reporting.
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For the first time in its nearly 30-year history, AquaExpo – an annual event that hosts discussions on Ecuadorian shrimp production – hosted a sustainability forum, in which experts at the event’s 2024 edition examined how the industry has developed – and how it can move toward more responsible, sustainable, and transparent practices to drive better aquaculture performance.
“Ecuadorian producers have already proven
… Read MoreChilean salmon-farming firm Multi X closed the third quarter of 2024 with a significant drop in revenue, which the company said was due to low average harvest weights and weak market prices.
The firm’s average harvest weight of Atlantic salmon reached 4.94 kilograms during the third quarter of 2024, compared to 5.28 kilograms in the same quarter last year.
In the U.S., which is the company’s main market, Multi X said average
… Read MoreInter-industry cooperation across the supply chain is needed now more than ever to meet increasing consumer demands for traceability, sustainability, and animal welfare in the shrimp-farming industry, according to a panel of executives during the recent AquaExpo conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
The panel, “New paths toward sustainability: How DNA traceability and alternative ingredients are shaping the future of shrimp farming,”
… Read MoreEnvironmental nonprofit Greenpeace Chile has filed a lawsuit regarding the deaths of two humpback whales found at the end of October in salmon grow-out centers belonging to Australis Mar and Cooke Aquaculture.
The incidents took place on 29 and 30 October inside Kawésqar National Reserve in the Magallanes region and San Rafael National Park in the Aysén region, both of which are in the south of Chile.
In the first case, a dead
… Read MoreA Chilean court has authorized a subpoena request seeking access to emails related to the sale of Chilean salmon-farming firm Australis to Chinese foodservice group Joyvio.
Chilean businessman Isidoro Quiroga sold Australis to Joyvio in 2018 for USD 921 million (EUR 873 million). Following the sale, Joyvio alleged Quiroga engaged in such actions as hiding, falsifying, and adulterating critical information during the sales process, including what
… Read MoreNew Brunswick, Canada-based aquaculture firm Cooke Inc. has announced it will purchase Peruvian fishmeal and fish oil producer Corporación Pesquera Inca (Copeinca).
Under a binding share purchase agreement, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cooke will indirectly acquire all the outstanding shares of Copeinca, Peru’s largest fishing company and one of the world’s largest fishmeal and fish oil producers.
The Peruvian firm
… Read MoreKeeton Industries, a manufacturer of targeted probiotics and aquaculture systems for shrimp farming, freshwater and saltwater fish farming, has begun a long-term study of the microbiomes within shrimp pond water infected with White Feces Syndrome (WFS).
The goal is to collect microbiome data from WFS-infected ponds in order to determine the triggers for microbial changes in a shrimp grow-out pond.
“This knowledge would allow the
… Read MoreChile’s Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca) is preparing a new aquaculture law to regulate the nation's multi-billion-dollar salmon-farming sector and other fish-farming operations in the country.
“There is a commitment from this government to work on a General Aquaculture Law that is the result of an open and transparent debate, that addresses and responds to sector challenges for the coming decades, and that
… Read MoreRetailing giant Walmart has announced a new North Star Program in conjunction with Ecuadorean shrimp farmer Omarsa, aquafeed firm Skretting, and NGO The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to help develop and sell more sustainable shrimp products. The company unveiled its plans in a case study presented 22 October at the AquaExpo conference taking place in Guayaquil, Ecuador, showcasing how retailers, shrimp producers, aquaculture feed suppliers, and NGOs
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