The institutional effectiveness of aquaculture regulation
In a meeting between the National Council on Innovation and the Economic Ministry’s salmon round table, the issue at hand was the unresolved problem of how to effectively monitor and enforce the new set of environmental and sanitary regulations placed on the nation’s salmon industry. "It is obvious that the manner in which the national fisheries service (Sernapesca) is organized that it cannot investigate and enforce at the same time. The time required for information processing cancels out any enforcement in a timely manner," stated executive secretary Felipe Sandoval in a press conference with Aqua.cl.
One of the ideas proposed by the National Council on Innovation is to free Sernapesca of the responsibility of monitoring the environmental and sanitary situation of the salmon industry, and put the Institute of Fisheries Development (IFOP) in charge, to leave Sernapesca strictly in charge of regulation enforcement. Sandoval however is not convinced, responding, "The IFOP should continue to focus its efforts more on salmon industry studies rather than general monitoring. Studies such as biological carrying capacities of certain areas and determining density limits for farm sites are what we need them to be doing. It is already clear that an institution specialized in studies cannot also do a job of enforcement. This is a point that must be further worked on in the overall institutional reform for aquaculture."
