By: Paulina Ortega
(Read news in La Tercera)
The Minister of the Environment, Maisa Rojas, referred to the doubts that have arisen with the processing of the Law for Nature and the creation of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Service (SBAP) and the impacts that this may have on salmon farming in the country, emphasizing that the law will not be retroactive.
Through a Twitter thread, the minister explained that "the project seeks to protect protected areas, areas that we have decided to take care of because of their biodiversity value and the benefits they provide. To comply with this, the Law for Nature prohibits new concessions of salmon farmingbut the current ones are maintained".
Recognizing the importance of this activity for some regions, the minister pointed out that the initiative provides clear rules for the salmon industry and that it does not affect current employment, adding that "aquaculture with native species is not prohibited, nor does it prohibit fishing".
"While we understand the interest in this issue, let us not forget that the Law for Nature is much broader. Chile's natural heritage needs to have a public service dedicated to the conservation, restoration and preservation of the diversity of life," concluded the minister.
For its part, SalmonChile issued a statement stating that although "we highlight this initiative, as it will systematize the norms that regulate protected wild areas, we continue to maintain that there are aspects of the project that put the development of salmon farming at risk. This is because the Executive proposed a modification to Article 158 of the General Law of Fisheries and Aquaculture, eliminating salmon farming in national and forest reserves in the future.
In this way, they explained that the existence of aquaculture in reserves has occurred because "concessions were granted in places that later became reserves, or were granted where the original protected area was only on dry land".
"While Norway has defined - in its strategic plan developed by the government - to quintuple its salmon production by 2050, in our country only restrictions are being discussed. This will mean substantial changes in the current market shares. Today, Chile has 35% of the global market and Norway 45%. By 2050, Norway will reach 82% and Chile will be reduced to 11%. Norway has only 10% of its sea under official protection, while Chile has 40%," the company projected.
On the other hand, SalmonChile expressed its dissatisfaction with the absence of the Ministry of Economy in the discussion of the project to evaluate the impacts on employment. "It is also contradictory when the Government announces the discussion of a new General Aquaculture Law as a broad and participatory process, since this dialogue would start with strong restrictions to our activity" they declared.