Chilean salmon-farming firm Marine Farm has inaugurated a new processing plant in the southern municipality of Calbuco.
The plant will have capacity to process up to 2,500 kilograms of coho salmon per month and will provide 400 direct jobs, the Calbuco Municipal Council announced on social media.
“As mayor of Calbuco, we deeply value companies like Marine Farm that are committed to our [municipality] and which have a clear vision. Our people live and develop around these productive activities,” Calbuco Mayor Marco Silva said during the opening ceremony of the plant. “The generation of employment and access to better education are, without a doubt, the only real tools for the development of our people.”
The plant opening is the first aquaculture venture in the city, Silva added.
Marine Farm HR Manager Cintia Munzenmayer highlighted the collaborative work between her company and the municipality in bringing the plant to fruition, emphasizing that the firm formed a strategic alliance with Calbuco’s Municipal Office of Labor Intermediation to stimulate local employment and attract qualified personnel from the community to the industry.
“The contracting process was opened at the beginning of July, and we will begin the operation of the plant on 4 August. We want to generate real, sustainable opportunities with a sense of belonging in the territory,” she said.
Silva noted that this project represents a stark contrast with developments in other Chilean locations where salmon-farming investments have begun to stagnate.
“While companies withdraw or the industry stagnates in other municipalities, in Calbuco, companies grow and new opportunities for development are opening up,” he said. “We remain committed to the employment, progress, and well-being of our people.”
Chile’s salmon-farming industry executives have been vocal over what they see as the need for the nation’s government to more clearly define its stance on the future of the aquaculture sector and establish a countrywide vision on salmon-farming development.
