The Supreme Court of Chile has rejected a cassation appeal filed by salmon farmer Trusal, upholding a ruling of the third environmental court that annulled authorization of a farming center in Seno Taraba, in the Kawésqar National Park in Magallanes region.
The Chilean Supreme Court justices agreed with the environmental court's ruling that Puerto Montt, Chile-based Trusal’s environmental impact statement lacked sufficient information regarding the project’s possible adverse impacts in a protected area, which originally led the court to revoke the salmon farmer’s authorization to set up the center, Diario Universidad de Chile reported.
This case is seen as a victory for the Kawésqar indigenous community, which through various activist groups – and with the support of NGOs, including AIDA, Greenpeace, and FIMA – has launched campaigns to protect the marine ecosystems of Magallanes, which are considered a part of indigenous ancestral territories. The groups are looking to avoid environmental damage they said is present in other regions with intensive commercial salmon farming, including Los Lagos and Aysén.
The Kawésqar National Park extends over 2.8 million hectares, making it the second-largest park in Chile. However, the coastal areas in the park are considered a national reserve – a category that has less protections than a park. Currently, there are 67 granted salmon farm concessions in the reserve and another 61 concessions are being processed, according to Diario Universidad de Chile.
“This ruling is very important for the conservation of biodiversity, since it establishes that the [Environmental] Court reached a correct ruling that significant adverse effects on marine biota would not have been ruled out. As such, the environmental impact statement should have been rejected,” Marcos Emilfork, a lawyer for the NGO FIMA, said.
Greenpeace Campaign Coordinator Estefanía González said areas like the Kawésqar National Park should be give higher levels of protection.
“We cannot continue to allow the approval of salmon-farming concessions within protected areas, their surroundings and in indigenous territory,” González said. “These are very fragile ecosystems on which various species and local communities depend. It is impossible to think of the approval of a center in these areas without them being affected. That’s why we’ve called to halt industry expansion and stop the approval of concessions. The sea can’t take any more.”
Earlier this month, across the border in Argentina, the legislature in the southernmost province of Tierra del Fuego unanimously approved a bill prohibiting coastal salmon farming.
Photo by Alejandra Javiera Gallo
