The vast majority of aquaculture farms in Chile operate under aerobic conditions compatible with sustainable development, the country’s Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca) said in its latest Aquaculture Environmental Report.
A total of 851 environmental evaluations were performed in 2023 and 2024 in Chile’s southernmost regions where salmon farming is most prevalent, particularly in the regions of Los Lagos and Aysén. A total of 709, or 83.3 percent, of the evaluations were classified as aerobic, while 142, or 16.7 percent, corresponded to centers with anaerobic conditions, Subpesca said, adding that these environmental metrics represented improvement from the previous two-year period studied.
The latest report stated that the number of salmon-farming centers in operation reached 2,223 in 2023-2024, marking a 7 percent increase from 2,078 centers in 2021-2022. Comparing the same periods, the number of environmental evaluations increased 13.3 percent, while the proportion of centers operating under anaerobic condition, meaning an environment that is not sufficiently oxygenated, decreased from 20.4 percent in 2021-2022 to 16.7 percent in the most recent period analyzed.
Further, analysis of post-anaerobic environmental evaluations showed a positive trend in the recovery of seabeds where concessions are located. Three-quarters of the total of 236 reports evaluated between 2023 and 2024 corresponded to centers that returned to aerobic conditions.
Subpesca also pointed out that the condition of seabeds reviewed during the period covered by its report may not necessarily be affected solely by aquaculture activity. There may be other contributing factors, such as forestry operations, livestock, city waste/runoff, or environmental effects such as El Niño, volcanic activity, tidal waves, or climate change. However, these factors are difficult to determine and evaluate over time, according to Subpesca, and they are not part of the analyses required of aquaculture activities.
“Overall, the results obtained during the 2023-2024 biennium allow us to conclude that Chilean aquaculture maintains a satisfactory environmental performance, with a stable trend in the main seabed quality indicators and a sustained improvement in the recovery processes of sites subjected to environmental stress,” Subpesca said.
Of the total 4.78 million metric tons (MT) of biomass farmed in Chile’s waters during 2023 to 2024, 64.5 percent corresponded to salmonids, comprising Atlantic salmon, coho salmon, and rainbow trout. Another 34.4 percent of the total corresponded to mollusks, principally mussels.
