Chile’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 continues to contribute sustainably to national and global food security,” Subpesca told SeafoodSource.
Public participation and discussion of the law is well underway, and the bill is expected to be submitted to congress in 2025. Under the public participation process, any interested stakeholder can directly upload proposals via the homepage of the Subpesca website through 31 October.
In addition to online proposals, Subpesca also partnered with the Universidad Austral de Chile’s (UACh) Institute of Aquaculture and Environment to launch a series of workshops and coordinate territorial discussion, mostly in the south of Chile where the vast majority of aquaculture takes place, including in cities such as Puerto Natales, Temuco, Puerto Aysén, Puerto Montt, Castro, Hornopirén, and Quellón, as well as the north central city of Coquimbo.
Authorities convened small, medium, and large aquaculture companies, as well as sector workers, residents of the communities where aquaculture takes place, and others to these regional workshops to learn about the needs, problems, and proposals of each area.
Partnering with UACh is not the first time Subpesca has turned to an academic institution to spur local dialogue and gather information for the law.
At the end of 2023, the Universidad de Valparaíso helped to organize participatory dialogues in public consultations for small-scale aquaculture, resulting in the publication of a document highlighting important issues to be taken into account for the development of the law.
The government has agreed to group the collection of proposals gathered for the General Aquaculture Law based on eight pillars: access, aquaculture territorial planning, environmental, animal health and welfare, research for decision-making, supervision and sanction, production and sales chains, and governance.
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