Chilean fishing company PacificBlu has announced it will shutter its operations as of 1 January 2026 after the Chilean government determined to lower the industrial fishing quota of hake in a new fishing bill.
The bill advancing in Chilean congress proposes to lower total quotas for industrial fishing in favor of artisanal fishers.
Under the bill, the quota for hake would be lowered to 48 percent from the current 60 percent for industrial fishers, meaning that Talcahuano, Chile-based PacificBlu’s operations would become unsustainable when the law comes into effect at the beginning of next year, according to the firm. Closure of the company would affect more than 800 direct workers, as well as another 2,400 indirect jobs.
The Chilean industrial fishing sector has maintained that the decision made by Chilean authorities to adjust quotas was based on erroneous information.
When outlining the bill, Chilean Undersecretary of Fisheries Julio Salas told the Chilean Congress that the industrial sector only caught 61 percent of the hake quota, which parliamentarians used as justification for reassigning that quota. However, industrial fishers have sustained that the figure exceeds 90 percent; PacificBlu CEO Marcel Moenne said that his company actually fulfills close to 99 percent of its quota.
Chilean Economy Minister Nicolás Grau has acknowledged that the data presented by Salas was erroneous and recognized the industrial sector’s hake capture was at 90 percent. Through the confusion, fishing industry stakeholders have called for the resignation of Salas and even Grau.
“How much more can we take?” National Association of Entrepreneurs President Juan Pablo Swett said on LinkedIn. “The discussions in congress of public policies such as the Fisheries and Quota Law have not been done technically; we sent dozens of reports and analyses warning that this would happen, and they did not read them simply due to ideological reasons ... these are the results.”
Swett added that the move would scare away investments and lead to bankruptcies and other company closures.
Talcahuano Mayor Eduardo Saavedra expressed indignation at how the upcoming law would make it impossible for PacificBlu to continue operating, contributing to unemployment in the city he oversees.
“We cannot continue like this, Talcahuano cannot resist the closure of more plants, of more companies. What we want is job creation, and today, the opposite is being done,” he said.
As for PacificBlu’s future, Moenne expressed some hope that congress would reconsider the legislation.
“We firmly believe that parliamentarians should legislate and vote on the basis of real data and that the country deserves a public policy based on evidence, which considers both social and economic impacts,” Moenne said.
PacificBlu was founded in 2014 as a partnership between three Talcahuano-based companies: Blumar, Pesquera BioBio, and Congelados Pacífico. The company conducts whitefish-fishing and -processing operations, as well as the commercialization of hake products.
