Relocations will still be processed, says Chile salmon boss after reform setback

One of Chile’s leading salmon farmers has sounded an optimistic note following a reversal of a reform that would have made the micro-relocation of salmon farms easier.

Speaking to Fish Farming Expert's Chilean sister site, Salmonexpert.cl., Blumar's general manager, Gerardo Balbontín, said the fact that relocations and micro-relocations were up for discussion represents a more favourable sign for salmon farming.

The industry had lamented the recent decision by the Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional the provisions creating micro-relocations and exempting them from Chile’s Environmental Impact Assessment System.

Sustainable development 

The proposed legislation had garnered broad political and technical consensus in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and was seen as central to unlocking the sustainable development of the sector, before it was challenged.

The sector claimed that a historic opportunity had been lost to modernise regulations, reduce bureaucratic hurdles, and advance concrete environmental and health improvements aimed at the sustainable growth of Chilean salmon farming.

But Balbontín told Salmonexpert that rather than viewing this result as a setback, it should be put into perspective. 

Favourable outlook

“The fact that relocations and micro-relocations have been included in the discussion of the Reconstruction Law already represents progress and a sign of a more favourable outlook toward an industry that needs to resolve issues that have persisted for years.

“There is a different willingness to address these issues, and that allows us to have confidence that we can move towards a more consolidated salmon farming industry with better conditions to project itself in the long term.

“Relocations will continue to be processed, although probably through slower procedures than those proposed by the rejected mechanism.

“Therefore, the challenge now is to continue advancing regulations that provide greater legal certainty, simplify procedures, and allow for the resolution of pending issues such as management plans and overlaps with protected natural areas.”

Globally relevant

Chile has a globally relevant salmon farming industry, added Balbontín, and needs a long-term policy that allows it to continue developing and contributing to the regions where it is present.

However, the salmon industry has warned that the halt in these spatial adjustments has left more than 300 relocation requests in the country stalled, many of which have been in bureaucratic processing for over a decade without an effective response.

Meanwhile, of the 1,060 relocation requests processed since 2010, only two have been successfully resolved, illustrating the rigidity of a system that does not meet contemporary technical standards for salmon farming, which was the goal of sustainable micro-relocations.