A recent visit from Norwegian royals to Argentina and efforts from President Mauricio Macri to attract new investments has opened the door for the Argentine government to move ahead with studies on the sustainability of salmon farms in its Atlantic waters.
Argentina’s Clarín newspaper reported a recent visit by Norway’s King Harald V led to an agreement between the two nations to study the feasibility of salmon farming in the Beagle Channel, in Argentina’s Tierra de Fuego region in the extreme south.
Officials from Argentina’s Sub-secretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture confirmed the agreement to Clarin, adding that the coastline in the southern Santa Cruz Province is also being considered.
The government is carrying out feasibility studies for the Beagle Channel, which are scheduled to get underway over the next two months. Authorities envision two to four concessions in the area, with a potential production capacity of 20,000 to 50,000 metric tons (MT) of salmon. A second stage of the project would consider Santa Cruz.
The report said that the studies would be designed to evaluate how much production would be optimal for the region, with the goal of avoiding errors made in other producing countries due to an overload of farming. The report recommends a joint task be creation including the sub-secretary and the fishing secretary of the provincial government.
Environmental opposition to the proposal is already brewing, Clarín reported. The invasive impact that introduced trout had in Argentina’s Patagonia region in the 1920s, which affected the biodiversity of native species, was cited by environmental groups as a factor in their opposition.
The report raised questions from environmental groups including Greenpeace on the impact of salmon farming on the coastline, as well as its use of antibiotics.
If Argentina were to generate its own salmon, a first destination could be its own domestic market. Popular in sushi dishes, Argentina imports around 8,100 MT of Chilean salmon valued at USD 62 million (EUR 52.4 million) each year.
