Christian Molinari

Christian Molinari

Contributing Editor

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.


Author Archive

Published on
May 4, 2023

Puerto Montt, Chile-based Multi X is planning to launch the Arka super-premium brand of smoked salmon, making the product available to premium U.S. grocery retailers during the second quarter of 2023.

The Arka brand, a name that means “heaven” in the native Kawésqar dialect, will market salmon that are antibiotic-free, Aquaculture Stewardship Council-certified, and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) 4 Star-certified.

The move

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Published on
May 1, 2023

Bondholders of Punta Arenas, Chile-based salmon farmer Nova Austral, which has admitted operational challenges and liquidity constraints, have approved the company’s proposed restructure plans in a bid to keep the company afloat.

“We are pleased to announce that the bondholders in each of the bond issues have voted in support of the proposed restructuring and the implementation steps described in the summons,” the company said

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Published on
April 20, 2023

Salmones Camanchaca plans to double its coho salmon production now that it has recovered from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the algae bloom that walloped the company in 2021.

“We see great opportunities for Salmones Camanchaca in coho because it adapts well to the conditions of Chilean Patagonia and better resists existing endemic diseases,” Salmones Camanchaca Vice President Ricardo García, said in a release

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Published on
April 18, 2023

Punta Arenas, Chile-based salmon farmer Nova Austral continues to face operational challenges and liquidity constraints in the latest chapter of the company’s troubled history.

The company said in a report to the Oslo Børs in March that it entered default on loans to its subsidiary Piscicultura Tierra Del Fuego, and in a new report in early April the company issued a summon to bondholders meeting offering up two main options for the

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Published on
April 17, 2023

Ecuador’s shrimp industry has sustained solid growth over the past years, solidifying its position as the number one supplier to China, providing roughly 70 percent of the Asian giant’s imports. It has also  lead as the number one supplier to Europe and, in the United States, is biting at the heels of the shrimp powerhouse of India.

That growth has been buoyed by a national strategy to fortify local operations while diversifying

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Published on
April 12, 2023

Peru’s Production Ministry (PRODUCE) has traditionally opened the anchovy fishing season for the north-central zone in the days following Easter break, and the country’s fishing companies are eagerly awaiting the launch after only catching 80 percent of the total allowable catch (TAC) in the previous season.

The country’s anchovy fishery, which targets both Engraulis ringens and Anchoa nasus, is the largest by volume in

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Published on
April 11, 2023

Isidoro Quiroga, the former head of Puerto Varas, Chile-based Australis Seafoods, has gone on the offensive after being accused of fraud by the company's new ownership group.

Australis was sold to Chinese foodservice giant Joyvio in 2018 for USD 921 million (EUR 850 million). In March 2023, Joyvio announced a plan to file a USD 1.22 billion (EUR 1.13 billion) lawsuit against Quiroga, seeking the return of its investment plus USD 300 million

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Published on
April 10, 2023

Los Ángeles, Chile-based salmon farmer Salmones Austral has opened a cutting-edge recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) at its Los Arrayanes farming center.

The facility, situated in the Reloncavi estuary in the municipality of Cochamó in southern Chile’s Los Lagos region, cost an estimated USD 35 million (EUR 32.5 million) to build. Salmones Austral said it has a number of innnovations that will change the way it farms

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Published on
April 5, 2023

Chile’s government is stepping up its regulation of the country’s USD 6.6 billion (EUR 6.1 billion) a year salmon sector.

In recent months, the government has stepped up its regulatory oversight of overproduction and fish escapes across the country's salmon-farming industry.

Chile’s Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has been more-actively investigating the country's salmon farmers and the amount of fish they are

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Published on
April 3, 2023

An earthquake that rocked Ecuador on 18 March has now been followed by several days of extreme rain and flooding that is expected to continue for several days, affecting the country’s multibillion-dollar shrimp sector.

The quake, which measured 6.5 on the Richter scale, caused the partial collapse of shrimp farms walls in the Bravito, Estero Huaylá, and Puerto Bolívar sectors, located in El Oro province. Ecuador’s

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