Chile’s Council for the Defense of the State (CDE) has filed a suit against Punta Arenas-based salmon farmer Nova Austral, seeking compensation for environmental damage allegedly caused in the Alberto de Agostini National Park, located in the fjords of the Magallanes Region in the far south of the country.
According to the CDE, the irreversible damage stems from overproduction at Nova Austral’s aquaculture centers Cockburn 14, Cockburn 23 and Aracena 10, as well as the unauthorized discharge of polluting agents on the seabed at the Aracena 14 center. The suit accuses loss of the marine ecosystem in the area where the projects are located and affectation of biodiversity, altering the ecological balance.
The suit, filed in Chile’s Third Environmental Court, is based on the technical input provided by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) and the sanctioning resolutions issued by the Superintendence of the Environment (SMA), CDE said in a statement.
The suit is in addition to the criminal lawsuit filed in June 2020 against five former executives of the salmon farmer Nova Austral, accused of fraud in adulterating mortality information between 2015 and 2019. This case was formalized by the Public Ministry in March and April 2022 and is currently in the investigation phase.
Since the case was uncovered in 2019, the salmon farmer has been under environmental scrutiny and the SMA has levied several sanctions against it. The company has said it may have to cease operations in the country if the sanctions, which it considers unjustified, are allowed to move forward.
In October 2022, Sweden-based private equity firm Altor purchased U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital’s stake in Nova Austral. Shortly before that, a representative of one of Nova Austral’s bond providers, Nordic Trustee, recognized that the salmon farmer was traversing a “challenging” liquidity position.
Image courtesy of Nova Austral
