Teoría Erosiva

The government, the financial sector, and organisations within the industry itself, have all had an important part to play in the rise of the new governance of Chilean Atlantic salmon production. From an optimistic point of view, their efforts appear to have moved the industry towards a greater economic, environmental and societal sustainably. However, this emerging sustainability has yet several hurdles to face.

The Industry is now largely recovered, and once more there has been a focus upon expansion. As an emerging consumer of Chilean farmed salmon, Brazil opens the prospect for growth of a new market place (SalmonChile 2013). If favourable market conditions can be maintained (at time of writing various restrictions on global supply are forcing increased prices for salmon) expansion certainly seems a possibility when considering the suitability of the fjords and channels of Chile’s coastal South. It is likely that many new sites will be located in areas further south of the region of Los Lagos, where the bulk of salmonid farming takes place. Aysen is a region where salmon farming already takes place, and it will likely be the location of many new sites if the industry continues to expand. For salmon farmers, the journey South is sometimes seen as an opportunity to reduce the likelihood of contact with vectors of infectious disease (anonymous industry members in Aysen, personal communication 2013). For local communities, an intensified presence of aquaculture will bring development. This will likely be challenged by opposition from stakeholders, who may argue that development results in the industrialisation of rural areas, bringing unnecessary and unwanted societal change, and that the benefits of previous developments have not been adequately conferred to the rural poor (e.g. Fløysand and Barton 2014). Such arguments find support in the experiences of the Chiloé archipelago, one of Chile’s major salmon producing regions (Box 1.) In Aysen, as well as other regions, any future development of rural areas must be a participatory process based upon meaningful communication with stakeholders, with the aim of maintaining relationships that accommodate the views and concerns of affected communities. Regulations pertaining to the granting of new aquaculture licences, as well as for the construction of infrastructures on-land, do require an assessment of impacts upon

being submitted to Sernapesca for its consideration, do appear to be somewhat both basic and brief (authors personal observation). The accuracy and thoroughness of these assessments depends upon the expertise of those responsible for their production, as well as upon the standard of work that the authorities demand. The outcome depends upon those responsible for making decisions based upon the reports. In other words, the required process of assessment, reporting, and decisions making, does not by itself guarantee that societal impacts are adequately represented when new licenses are granted. For this reason, the applicability and effectiveness of this procedure is subject to regular review. However, it is important that impact assessments do not come to be an action of little functional purpose other than to satisfy an administrative requirement.

Box 1. Social impacts of the salmon industry on the Chiloé archipelago.

As a culturally sensitive area of historical importance, the islands of Chiloé provide the most frequently invoked depiction of a rural society to which the industry has brought dramatic change. Until the introduction of industrialised aquaculture, the highly ruralised population had existed in relative isolation since the influencing events of European colonisation. It was a distinct society, characterised by a dependence upon subsistence farming, an economy where exchange of goods was often with without money being transferred, and with males being seasonally itinerant workers, providing occasions when women commanded roles usually held by men (Leon 2015; Ramírez and Ruben 2015). The establishing of Chiloé as a centre of industrially produced salmon destined for a world market, was a process that paid little consideration to cultural sensitivity. The role of the local population, which was one of significance within their own isolated economy, is being changed to that of a workforce, which provides labour and other services to the production of a good for an international market (Daughters, 2016). Such general disregard for sustainable development risks the industry being perceived as one which operates to the tune of its own profit, and at a cost to the local community (e.g. Claude et al. 2000). It was protests against working conditions in Chiloé that led to industry’s first major labour strike, and attracted the attentions of international NGOs. Feelings of antipathy towards salmon farming in Chiloé have not been prevented by reforms following the ISA outbreak. As recently as 2016, conflict erupted and the islands of Chiloé became a site of popular unrest, with local communities blaming the salmon industry for an algal bloom which threatened the local fishing industry.

The regulation of environmental impacts has also been improved. However, effectively, many of the changes related to environmental aspects of salmon production are based upon measures implemented to prevent disease, rather than a dedicated focus upon impacts to the environment itself. A good example of this is the implementation of zoning, which is largely the result of the need for disease management, but which could also facilitate improved performance in terms of environmental impacts. If zoning successfully prevents high concentrations of cage farming activities being placed within areas of unsuitable hydrographic characteristics, then this, along with the

introduction of mandatory fallowing, should go some way to preventing nutrient enrichment of water bodies and benthic sediments. The issuing of new licences for aquaculture production requires consideration of environmental aspects, including assessments of the benthic sediments. However, as with the assessing of social impacts, it is important that their application remains to be relevant, and that regulations are monitored and modified, supported by an appropriate knowledge of science. Clearly, monitoring and maintaining the effectiveness and applicability of societal and environmental regulation is a governmental responsibility. But this should not detract from one very important point; that it is the responsibility of the industry to inform and support any necessary regulatory change, as part of the commitment to social sustainability, which is expected by the international consumer. Indeed, much of the efforts to improve environmental performance, as well as other aspects of sustainability, have come from the within the industry itself. Clean Production Agreements (APL’s) are a national, government funded initiative, intended to improve the sustainability of various Chilean industries, but are developed with significant participation of the private sector. INTESAL and SalmonChile have provided an important contribution towards establishing APL’s for the salmon industry (Consejo Nacional de Producción de Limpia 2002; Consejo Nacional de Producción de Limpia 2010). As with governmental regulation of the industry, the APL’s coverage of environmental aspects of salmon production focuses largely upon disease prevention. Despite this, the APL’s do appear to offer a route through which the environmental impacts of production can be subject to further management. The research activities of INTESAL may provide opportunities to add modifications the APL’s, which increase the demand for environmental responsibility among the members of SalmonChile. Industry led efforts to demonstrate a genuine commitment towards improved sustainability include achieving internationally recognised certifications, awarded to industry that complies with a standard of ‘good-practice.’ Significantly, INTESAL has worked towards aligning the practices of its member companies with those of various standards. This has included harmonizing the practices of several salmon producers with those of the internationally recognised standard GLOBAL G.A.P., as well as the standards for Best Aquaculture Practice (BAP), developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance (SalmonChile 2017) In general, these ensure that that certified products comply with set standards for animal welfare, hygiene, food safety, and environmental and societal sustainability, throughout production and processing.