Christian Molinari

As part of efforts to review the government’s reach and streamline its services, Ecuador President Daniel Noboa recently announced intentions to merge multiple ministries within his administration, including the Vice Ministry of Aquaculture and Fisheries, into one broader entity. Ecuador's Executive Decree 425 mandates the merger of the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, which… Read More

Chile Senator Fidel Espinoza has called for the urgent formation of a working group to analyze the safety conditions of divers who perform maintenance work on the nation’s salmon farms. The call came shortly after the deaths of two divers occurred in under one month, both of whom worked for contract firm Tridente Servicios Acuícolas. One of the fatal accidents took place at the beginning of June at a farm belonging to AquaChile, and the other… Read More

Chile’s Aysén region has reached a new landmark in its approach toward creating a circular economy by shipping the first batch of compacted expanded polystyrene (EPS) made with aquaculture industry waste to European markets. The operation was carried out by local firm Ceresal, which was established in Aysén to provide services to the aquaculture industry in receiving and managing inorganic industrial solid waste. The shipment included 30… Read More

The Chilean Salmon Council is aiming to strengthen the relationship between agriculture and salmon-farming operations in the country by launching the AgroSalmon 2026-2027 roadmap. Salmonids are Chile’s second most exported product, with USD 3.5 billion (EUR 3.1 billion) worth of salmonids sent abroad during the first six months of 2026 alone. About 60 percent of the feed used in the country’s salmon production comprises ingredients of… Read More

Peru President Keiko Fujimori took office on 28 July, and during her inaugural address to the nation, she declared a national emergency focused on two areas: organized crime and threats resulting from El Niño. Some commentators have declared the weather phenomenon as the primary economic challenge for Fujimori's incoming government, possibly resulting in losses of up to PEN 16 billion (USD 4.7 billion, EUR 4.1 billion) for the Peruvian economy… Read More

Chinese seafood firm Joyvio, which owns Chilean salmon-farming company Australis, has launched a new legal proceeding against former Australis owner Isidoro Quiroga, marking the latest offensive in a court battle that has carried legal fees for both parties of around USD 50 million (EUR 44 million). The legal battle commenced in 2023 when Joyvio filed a lawsuit against Quiroga seeking USD 1.22 billion (EUR 1.07 billion) in restitution and… Read More

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently levied import tariffs between 10 percent and 12.5 percent on 59 countries and the entire E.U., explaining that the duties are related to the “failure of various economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.” Chile was included in the group of 60 economies faulted by the USTR and, therefore, has been slapped with a 12.5… Read More

Landings of fish along Chile’s coast during the first five months of 2026 have fallen to their lowest level in a decade. Catch totals corresponding to industrial and artisanal landings reached 817,000 metric tons (MT) between January and May of this year, marking a 41 percent drop compared to the 1.4 million MT reached in the same period of 2025, according to Chile’s latest sectoral report from the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and… Read More

The Chilean branch of Norwegian aquaculture technology company AKVA group is advancing on the second phase of a USD 32.5 million (EUR 30 million) land-based smolt facility that salmon-farming firm Cermaq contracted it to build in 2024. Part of an ambitious USD 100 million project that Cermaq Chile announced in April 2024, the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) smolt facility on Cermaq’s Chacao Canal Fish Farm (PCC) will have a production… Read More

An investor group has announced intentions to install a ARS 12.5 billion (USD 7.8 million, EUR 6.8 million) land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) salmon farm in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province. The move comes after provincial legislators voted 8 to 7 at the end of 2025 to amend Law 1,355, which the Tierra del Fuego government unanimously approved in 2021 to prohibit salmon farming. At the time of the law’s passing, it was… Read More