Salmones Aysén is facing a fine of up to CLP 10.8 billion (USD 11.5 million, EUR 11.7 million) for a September 2019 fish escape Chile’s Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) said was caused by the company's negligence.
SMA filed charges against Salmones Aysén for "noncompliance with the conditions, norms, and measures established in its environmental permit" in regard to a September 2019 fish escape at its Canal Huito salmon grow-out center, located in the borough of Calbuco in the Los Lagos region in southern Chile. A total of 26,531 coho salmon were reported to have escaped through a hole in a net-pen on 30 September, 2019.
At the time, authorities suspected the event was caused by intentional sabotage; Harvesting had begun the previous day at the site, which at the time had 696,000 coho salmon at an average weight of 3.1 kilograms each.
However, a citizen complaint was subsequently filed with the Los Lagos regional department of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), which claimed that Salmones Aysén had failed to maintain the minimum safety conditions in accordance with the oceanographic conditions of the concession area, resulting in the escape. In turn, Sernapesca submitted this information to the SMA, which said it launched an “exhaustive analysis” of the event, the progress made in the implementation of the company’s action plan for the site, and a photographic record of activity at the affected pen. It found that there had been a faulty installation of a tensor in the affected pen that led to premature wear of pen’s mesh.
In response, SMA filed two charges against Salmones Aysén. If validated, the punishment may involve revocation of the farm's environmental permit, its forced closure, and monetary fines. The first infraction, categorized by SMA as "extremely serious," has to do with Salmones Aysén reportedly failing to maintain the minimum safety conditions established in its environmental permit, and comes with a maximum fine equivalent to CLP 7.24 billion (USD 7.6 million, EUR 7.8 million).
According to the SMA accusation, the module’s anchoring calculation – used for proper installation of the net-pen – lacked a reliable record of oceanographic currents in the sector. Additionally, the company failed to perform semi-annual and annual verifications of its cultivation modules and their anchoring systems. A daily review of the mesh, to which the company committed in its environmental permit, was not carried out, and as a result, the deficient installation of the tensor and the resulting material wear were not detected in a timely manner.
The second infraction, labeled as "serious," comes with a fine of up to CLP 3.62 billion (USD 3.8 million, EUR 3.9 million). It is based on what SMA considers a late implementation of the action plan for fish escape contingencies by the company The mass escape of coho salmon, which is considered an exotic species introduced in Chile, may have created environmental damage in the local ecosystem, according to Emanuel Ibarra, the acting head of the SMA.
Salmones Aysén can respond to the accussations in one of two possible ways: present its defense case within 10 business days, or present a compliance program that outlines its action plan to correct the infractions and get up to date with all applicable environmental regulations. If the company is judged to have adhered to its compliance program, the charges may be dropped, but if it fails to comply, the charges are renewed and the fines are doubled.
The event was the first of a series of fish escapes in 2019. Around 23,000 coho salmon escaped from a pen on 22 December, 2021, at Cermaq Chile’s Caucahue facility, located in Quemchi in the south of the country, and a similar occurrence took place in November at Marine Farm’s Sur Islote center, in Aysén, when some 20,000 salmon escaped.
Photo courtesy of Salmones Aysen
