A joint committee in Chile’s congress has rejected a proposed modification to the country’s general fisheries law that would have prohibited new or renewed aquaculture concessions in protected areas.
The congressional committee rejected the article for the proposed creation of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP), which would bar the introduction of exotic hydrobiological species – such as salmon – from such areas.
Environmental groups and conservation advocates, including the famous grunge band Pearl Jam, had pushed for the article's approval.
“Protecting coastal biodiversity is vital to the survival of the oceans and our own species. This International Day for Biological Diversity, we're sharing our growing concern about the impact of industrial salmon farms – which are impacting fragile marine ecosystems,” the band said on 22 May in a post on its official Twitter profile. “We stand with our Chilean friends, communities, and partners calling on decision-makers to pass a ban on industrial salmon farming permits in protected areas to make good on [the] commitment to the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP) bill and Chile's role in the global biodiversity framework.“
Conversely, salmon farming firms and many of their workers deemed the proposal unfair. T
After the committee axed the proposed modification, the salmon industry celebrated.
“We greatly value the fact that the voice of the people of the south – of operators, transporters, SMEs, farmers, and the great value chain of this sector – has been heard today and their concerns were addressed,” SalmonChile president Arturo Clément said.
Clément said SalmonChile aimed to continue dialogue with lawmakers to “build good public policies together to lay the foundations of the aquaculture of the future.”
The congressional committee did approve a number of other articles within the bill, which aims to create a public service under Chile's Ministry of the Environment in charge of the conservation of biodiversity in Chile, including the creation of a national system of protected areas and the shepherding of conservation initiviates outside of protected areas.
While the rejected article may provide a moment of respite for the salmon sector, there are at least two issues that will continue to be thorns in its side: new legislation tightening rules on environmental crimes and the proposed relocation of salmon farming concessions outside of protected areas.
Concerning the first issue, on 15 May, Chile’s congress approved a bill that codifies economic crimes and offenses against the environment. According to Robert Currie, an attorney specializing in environmental regulation and compliance who helped draft the country’s climate change framework law, the bill will have to undergo review by the Constitutional Court of Chile and is likely to become law.
The law will incorporate a new section in the criminal code regarding “offenses against the environment,” creating a series of new crimes punishable with up to 10 years of imprisonment and fines of as much as CLP 7.6 billion (USD 9.5 million, EUR 8.8 million), he said.
“This is a milestone in environmental regulation, since it may hold legal representatives responsible," Currie told SeafoodSource. "It highlights the importance of environmental compliance and the need for crime-prevention models that are comprehensive and inclusive of the various risks a company may face."
Currie said the salmon industry is being closely scrutinzed for potential evasion's of the government’s environmental evaluation service, El Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental (SEIA); and alleged discharges of pollutants that negatively affect water, soil or subsoil, air, animal or plant health, or protected areas.
“The criteria established by law to determine severity are spatial extension, effects over time, damage repairability, impact on endangered species, serious risk to human health, and significant alteration to ecosystems,” Currie said.
Chilean regulators have cracked down on the country's salmon sector, valued at USD 6.6 billion (EUR 6.1 billion) last year, since the election of the country's current president, Gabriel Boric, in December 2021. Since then, Chile’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) has upped its regulatory oversight of overproduction and fish escapes, and Chile's Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has been more actively investigating salmon farmers and the amount of fish they are producing, levying steep penalties on companies found to have breached the parameters of their permits.
In his most recent national address, Boric said he backed the failed article.
“Although the salmon industry generates a lot of employment, which is important and must be taken care of, it must be more reflective regarding its environmental standards, as we have seen in particular in the Los Lagos and Magallanes regions. It can be done better, and our ecosystems can be taken care of in a better way,” he said.
Boric has previously called for the removal of existing salmon farming operations from protected areas and national parks.
“Within the current institutionality, to date, no relocation has been granted. In fact, since 2010, there have been approximately 500 applications, of which close to 200 have been rejected and 300 are under evaluation,” Salmon Council Executive Director Loreto Seguel said.
In an op-ed in El Mercurio, Cooke Aquaculture Chile CEO Andrés Parodi called attention to inconsistencies between governmental decrees and their enforcement, particularly in regard to the permitting of salmon farms.
"In practice, this objective is hampered by the excessive delay in the authorizations that must be granted by public bodies,” he said.
Photo courtesy of SalmonChile
