The members of the Alliance for the Defense of Protected Areas, who participated in the third version of the Ladera Sur Festival in Santiago from November 15 to 17, carried out an intense exchange of ideas and dissemination of the Save Patagonia campaign.
The initiative, which seeks to remove the salmon farming industry from the protected areas of Chilean Patagonia, was present with a stand, where hundreds of people interested in learning more about the campaign arrived, as well as members of the Alliance who came from various places to communicate the importance of protected areas being places for conservation.
On the other hand, the Save Patagonia campaign presented on Sunday 17 the talk "Salmon farms out of protected areas", during which Flavia Liberona, executive director of Fundación Terram and Erwin Sandoval, president of the Aysén Development Corporation (Codesa), shared with a large audience key aspects of this initiative, such as the importance of protecting the protected areas in this area of the country, their environmental value, and the impacts that salmon farming is causing in these unique places in the world.
Flavia Liberona, executive director of Fundación Terram, pointed out that it is important to keep in mind that salmon and trout are carnivorous species native to the northern hemisphere and that the way they are farmed resembles their life cycle. He also stated that the purpose of this campaign is to remove salmon farming concessions from the interior of protected areas, without relocation, since the protected areas were created to be protected and there are multiple negative impacts of salmon farming on the coastal-marine ecosystems of Chilean Patagonia that affect biodiversity, some of which still have little information or historical data, despite the more than 30 years that this industry has been operating in the area. "There are the phenomena of entanglement of mammals and birds, whose images are dramatic, there is also a loss of benthic life and death of the seabed, which occurs by the deposit of organic material on the seabed product of undigested food that falls and accumulates, the same as the feces of salmon, which goes to the seabed generating a crust and leaving it without oxygen, which causes the death of the organisms that live there. Although harmful algal blooms or HAB, also known as red tide and brown tide, is not a phenomenon directly attributable to the salmon industry, since it appears when there are conditions of temperature, luminosity and excess of nutrients, it cannot be discarded that the excess of organic matter that salmon farming contributes to the occurrence of this type of events. Finally, I point out the presence of chemical products that are applied to farmed fish to treat diseases such as caligus or sea lice, end up being released into the ocean, with possible impacts on biodiversity. These reasons and others of a legal nature make us say strongly that the salmon farming industry must leave the protected areas, spaces created precisely to protect life, and that they should withdraw without the possibility of relocating," he said.
For his part, Erwin Sandoval referred to the economic impacts that illegalities and environmental non-compliance are evidencing at national level, where "the dozens of sanctioning procedures directed by the Superintendence of the Environment against salmon farming companies for overproduction and significant environmental impacts in their areas of influence, has led the companies - in order to avoid sanctions - to reduce farming densities in other operating centers. Likewise, the diminished sanitary and environmental status of the areas where the industry operates, with increasing frequency, generates contingency situations such as harmful algal blooms or massive mortalities, for example, which force the activation of Early Harvest Contingency Plans, which translates into harvesting fewer salmon, with a lower weight and, therefore, with a lower final production. This impact due to illegalities and environmental non-compliance of the industry is already evident in the economic figures of the Region, reflected in the last three Regional GDP Reports prepared by the Central Bank, in which the Aysén Region has even presented negative figures".
He also added that it is perfectly feasible to move forward with the withdrawal of the concessions currently in force in National Reserves and Parks without affecting employment in the region, since "As demonstrated in the recently published Cadastre by the campaign, there are at least 280 concessions within protected areas that are in cause for expiration, precisely because they are not operating, There are at least 280 concessions inside protected areas that are in cause of expiration, precisely because they are not operating., that is, for not generating neither production nor employment. This is explained by the fact that, as a result of the modifications to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Law after the ISA virus crisis, the Law currently allows concessions to be mortgaged. Thus, we have found concessions mortgaged for billions of euros, mainly with international banks; in short, the industry speculates financially with our National Parks and Reserves".
Sandoval added that the real "measles of concessions", which the campaign marks as red dots on the maps and which, between Aysén and Magallaneswhich the campaign marks as red dots on the maps and which, between Aysén and Magallanes, total 408 within National Parks and Reserves, are in fact just that, a disease. "If you ask us how you can support this cause, we tell you to help us to spread the word, to spread our message and to publicize the damage of salmon farming in this natural heritage that belongs to you, to all of us. And, of course, we can always stop consuming salmon!", he emphasized.
On the other hand, Kristine Tompkins, president of Tompkins Conservation, and Carolina Morgado, executive director of Rewilding Chile, spoke about the relevance of removing the salmon farming industry from national parks and reserves in Chilean Patagonia, during the Women in Rewilding" conversation at Ladera FestIngrid Espinoza and Carolina Cerda, both from Rewilding Chile, also participated.
For Kristine Tompkins, protected areas are a tool for biodiversity conservation. During her presentation, she highlighted the Save Patagonia campaign, an initiative supported by Tompkins Conservation whose main objective is to remove the salmon farming industry from protected areas. According to Kris Tompkins, there are 408 concessions granted to salmon farming companies within Chile's reserves and national parks, and the campaign is dedicated to saving these unique spaces on the planet.
Carolina Morgado, executive director of Rewilding Chile, pointed out that the campaign brings together some 50 organizations, of which they are also part. "The fundamental thing is how, from civil society, we can strengthen environmental institutions, since when we have extractive activities, in addition to exotic species such as salmon, within protected areas, we must question why we have them if they are not going to be effectively protected, and how some salmon farming companies mock environmental institutions by promoting abroad that they sell salmon raised in protected areas", she emphasized. He added that this fact must be stopped in any way possible, "we must be concerned about protecting our heritage and ensuring that the environmental institutions duly protect what is designated to be protected, and we call on everyone to join this campaign". Morgado pointed out that this initiative focuses on removing salmon farms within protected areas and not on confronting the industry as a whole, adding that national parks and reserves, as well as other areas, "have been the center of our work, they have been our beacon of what must be protected in Chile and, therefore, we find the existence of this industry within them unacceptable and incompatible".
We appreciate all the support received by the partners of the Alliance for the Defense of Protected Areas during these three days and the warm welcome of those who visited the stand and attended our talk.
Welcome to the Save Patagonia campaign!
For more information, visit the website www.salvemoslapatagonia.cl and the campaign's social networks.
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Facebook: @salvemoslapatagoniachile