The Chilean arm of salmon-farming firm Cooke Aquaculture has submitted two new proposals to the national Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) to relocate some of its grow-out centers in the south of the country.
In the first petition, valued at USD 6 million (EUR 5.3 million), Cooke Chile has proposed to relocate parts of three existing centers – Huillines 2, Ballena 2, and Punta Caldera, all of which are located in the Aysén region – to a new sector in the same region.
The partial concessions would be combined into one salmonid grow-out center in an area of 4 hectares that would produce a maximum of 8,000 metric tons (MT) of Atlantic salmon over a 15-month cycle. Alternatively, the center could operate with coho salmon, whose maximum production would correspond to 3,640 MT per cycles that would last approximately eight months.
The second proposal is also valued at USD 6 million (EUR 5.3 million) and would involve relocating portions of four different centers – Erasmo 1, Ballena 2, Punta Caldera, and Huillines 3 – to a second sector in Canal Costa in Aysén.
The partial concessions would be combined into one salmonid grow-out center in an area of just over 3 hectares in order to produce a maximum of 7,000 MT of Atlantic salmon for a 15-month cycle or, similarly, coho salmon with maximum production of 3,220 MT per cycle of approximately eight months.
The latest proposals follow another proposed USD 6 million (EUR 5.3 million) project, submitted by Cooke Chile in May, to move its original concession located in Punta Caldera in the municipality and region of Aysén to a replacement concession in an area deemed appropriate for aquaculture activity in Estero Cupquelán.
Cooke Chile has been trying to relocate a number of its concessions for years. Together with fellow salmon-farming firm AquaChile, Cooke Aquaculture signed an agreement with the Chilean government in December 2023 to relocate nine aquaculture concessions, effectively moving their operations from three national parks – Isla Magdalena, Laguna San Rafael, and Bernardo O’Higgins.
However, these types of moves have been continually caught up in bureaucratic red tape.
Most recently, a constitutional court in Chile struck down a bill that would have allowed salmon-farming firms to forgo additional environmental assessment reports when moving their operations even short distances.
Just before the constitutional court ruling, Chilean salmon-farming association SalmonChile noted that the sector’s ability to relocate has been “trapped” in the governmental system for over 15 years, with only two relocations approved out of more than 1,000 submitted applications.
Meanwhile, the administration of Chile President José Antonio Kast, who took office in March, has been outspoken in its intention to cut down on government bureaucracy to free up investments and drive business.
