This past month, a new coalition of 37 Chilean organizations called the Alianza por la Defensa de las Áreas Protegidas (Alliance for the Defense of Protected Areas) formed to launch the "Salvemos la Patagonia" (Save Patagonia) campaign in response to a report by the nation’s Auditor General's Office (CGR) revealing major flaws in the management of salmon farming concessions.

 

Under the slogan “For the end of salmon farming in protected areas, no relocation," the campaign seeks to eliminate salmon farming concessions within national parks and national reserves along the coastline of southern Chile.

 

The alliance, composed primarily of environmental foundations and organizations, points in particular to a key finding in the CGR report which states that, despite several salmon farm concessions should have expired due to non-compliance with the country’s laws, they are still operating in protected areas.

 

“National parks and national reserves are biodiversity refuges that should not host industrial production. We must strengthen environmental institutions to guarantee the conservation of this natural heritage,” said Carolina Morgado, executive director of Fundación Rewilding Chile and member of the alliance.

 

Flavia Liberona, executive director of the Santiago environmental policy group Fundación Terram and also part of the alliance, emphasizes that the salmon industry has grown exponentially in violation of current legislation, including production in excess of limits imposed upon them in their environmental permits and environmental impact assessments. “The disciplinary procedures ordered by the CGR to the National Fishing and Aquaculture Service and the Undersecretariat of the Armed Forces to determine administrative responsibilities are a crucial step to protect the coastal-marine ecosystems affected by salmon farming,” Liberona says.

 

Currently, there are 408 salmon farming concessions in protected areas: Laguna San Rafael National Park (2), Magdalena Island National Park (8), Alberto de Agostini National Park (19), Las Guaitecas National Reserve (3) and Kawésqar National Reserve (66).

 

The Aysén region has been especially hard hit by salmon farming. Of the 1,380 concessions nationwide, 716 are in Aysén, with 323 located inside national parks and reserves. “We support this campaign because it is necessary to reinforce the efforts of the many organizations and citizens already raising awareness about the impacts of the industry,” said Erwin Sandoval, president of the Corporation for the Development of Aysén (Codesa).

 

Adds Carolina Zagal, president the Oceanosfera Foundation based in Valdivia, the fjords and canals have unique marine ecosystems and species that are supposed to be safeguarded in protected areas from contamination from industry and development activities. “Chile's protected areas were created to be protected. They do not offer protection when activities incompatible with conservation, such as aquaculture, are allowed in them, do not have an adaptive management plan, and are not effectively controlled, monitored and evaluated.”