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
The South American country of Peru boasts the largest fishery by volume in the world, catching several million metric tons (MT) of Peruvian anchoveta (Engraulis ringens) each year, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Nearly all of Peru’s capture and production of anchovy is used for the production of fishmeal – a prime ingredient for animal feed, particularly for farmed fish, poultry, pork and pets.
… Read MoreThe Chilean branch of Cooke Aquaculture is claiming it is being discriminated against by Chile’s Superintendency of the Environment (SMA), which the company says is affecting its operations in the country and for which it may seek international arbitration.
The impasse could potentially throw a wrench into the works for Chile’s USD 6 billion (EUR 5.5 billion) salmon-farming industry and harm the country’s reputation for having
… Read MoreChile’s salmon farms shipped a total of USD 6.6 billion (EUR 6.1 billion) in salmon and trout abroad in 2022, up 27.3 percent from the year before, the Chilean Salmon Council reported.
Salmon has traditionally been Chile’s second most-important export after copper (exports of USD 43.9 billion, EUR 40.3 billion in 2022), but in 2022, it was relegated to third place as demand rocketed up for lithium by an astounding 777 percent, with
… Read MoreEcuador’s government putting an end to diesel subsidies for large shrimp farms is unfair, comes at a very inopportune moment, and seriously affects sector competitiveness, according to the executive president of the country’s National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), José Antonio Camposano.
The move will increase production costs by USD 0.16 (EUR 0.15) per pound of shrimp, affecting 82 percent of the country’s shrimp
… Read MoreChile’s government is considering specific laws to combat the robbery of particular goods, including farmed salmon, cattle, and copper cables.
The proposal – introduced by Chile Minister of the Interior and Public Safety Carolina Tohá – aims to fill a regulatory void. It follows the passage of a similar law enacted in 2022 that was successful in reducing lumber theft.
Thefts of truckloads of farmed salmon being
… Read MoreA Chilean court has ordered a halt on Punta Arenas, Chile-based salmon farmer Nova Austral’s plan to transfer some of its farming sites.
Chile’s Third Environmental Court in Valdivia ordered Nova Austral to put its plan to transfer some of its farming sites from the Alberto de Agostini National Park to part of the Kawésqar National Reserve – both of which are located in the southernmost region of Magallanes – on
… Read MoreChilean salmon farmers are defending the use of antibiotics in their salmon and trout farming operations after the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program downgraded some rainbow trout farms in the region in its sustainability ranking to “Red” (Avoid) from “Yellow” (Good Alternative) due to escapes and high use of antimicrobials.
A release from the Chilean Salmon Council – a trade group comprised of AquaChile,
… Read MoreSantiago, Chile-based fishing and salmon-farming firm Blumar has launched a rebranding campaign and announced its new purpose soon after it announced solid Q3 earnings.
The company announced that “We nurture people embracing the ocean” is its new purpose – defined after a year of work – which it said it will use to inspire the company’s entire value chain for the production and sale of seafood. The new purpose was
… Read MoreThe spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery in Nicaragua has completed its fishery improvement project (FIP) and entered the full assessment process for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
The Caribbean-based fishery is the largest supplier of spiny lobster to the U.S., and the country exported seafood worth USD 180 million (EUR 170 million) in the first six months of 2022. Nicaragua is the second major Caribbean spiny lobster
… Read MoreOverfishing is often seen as a strictly environmental concern, but the issue should be also looked at through an economic lens, according to the new seafood-focused non-governmental organization Accountability.Fish.
Accountability.Fish was created to raise awareness of what it deems as “the under-monitored and murky politics” of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs). It seeks to support underrepresented
… Read More