Chilean fishing and salmon-farming firm Blumar has decided to halt a USD 30 million (EUR 26.8 million) investment in a frozen food plant in the central Chilean city of Coronel as it waits to see how national legislation regarding industrial fishing quotas plays out.
The plant project – which had already had received required permitting – “was scheduled to be passed by [Blumar’s] board of directors and approved during 2025 to begin construction toward the end of this year, but it was postponed,” Blumar CEO Gerardo Balbontín said.
An estimated 400 people would be employed at the plant, the company said.
The national legislation in question is a bill called the “ley de fraccionamiento” locally, which would replace the existing Chilean fishing law and proposes to modify the distribution of catch quotas in 18 fisheries across the nation.
The move is seen by its proponents as correcting an historical wrong, taking away quotas from the industrial fishing sector and awarding them to artisanal fishers.
Large fishing firms have said the bill threatens their companies’ economic feasibility and puts thousands of jobs at risk …
