National authorities and community leaders discuss salmon problems
Sernapesca, the national fisheries service has officially confirmed the presence of ISA in another salmon farm in the Region Aysén, this time a farm belonging to the company El Golfo. Currently Mainstream (belonging to Cermaq) and El Golfo are the companies affected in Region Aysén, while six other companies are dealing with ISA in the Lakes Region (principally Chiloé Island). The local non-governmental and aquaculture watchdog organization Ecoceanos organized a seminar today titled “The salmon aquaculture crisis and models of development: Where is Chile’s salmon industry headed?” Invited to the seminar are representatives from the Undersecretary of Fisheries, Sernapesca, the ex-director of the National Directive of Labour (who was most involved in the recent workers’ union conflicts within the salmon industry), national economist and environmental activist Marcel Claude, and Benjamín Teneb, union worker leader (banished from AquaChile for violent acts against the company property), and Dr. Sandra Bravo, fish pathologist and sea lice specialist from the Universidad Austral de Puerto Montt. The seminar is designed as an ongoing workshop to spur interaction and dialogue between the public and private sector, and inviting guest specialists to each workshop to explain and discuss particular issues (socio-economic, environmental, occupational health, etc.) that involve the salmon industry.
