Export volumes of Chilean farmed salmon slipped year over year in the first quarter of 2025, and the Chilean Salmon Council is warning the trend might worsen due to U.S. tariffs coupled with continuous domestic regulatory issues.
The country exported 218,355 metric tons (MT) of salmon between January and March 2025, marking a decrease of 2.8 percent when compared to the same quarter of 2024, per data from the Chilean National Customs Service.
“The main challenge facing this industry is to install and consolidate a development model that complements sustainability with significant growth in the medium term,” Chilean Salmon Council Executive President Loreto Seguel said. “Chilean salmon farming cannot withstand stagnation. This requires … a state policy because in a global competitive scenario, those who do not grow disappear.”
The slowdown in production has been most apparent in the southern Magallanes region of Chile.
According to Carlos Odebrecht, the president of the Association of Salmon Farmers of Magallanes, regional production in recent years has dropped 44 percent from 180,000 MT to around 100,000 MT a year, taking with it more than 1,500 direct jobs...
