Chile’s salmon industry vows to double output by 2050

A strong defence of the Chilean salmon industry has been mounted at a major trade summit in the country.

The gathering of senior industry figures at Salmon Summit 2024, an initiative launched last week by the industry organisation SalmonChile, heard from former national president of the Republic Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (pictured, left, with Arturo Clément, president of the Chilean Salmon Farming Association).

Frei said that the sector had been the engine of growth in the south of the country over the past 30 years, without government help.

He said: “The region has done it, and so have the businessmen, the workers, the institutions, everything – without a penny from the State.”

The industry is not going to stop now, he declared, adding that it needs to double its output over the next 30 years. It is capable of doing that, he argued, and it has the people and investment to achieve that goal.

But relations between the Chilean salmon sector and the country’s left wing president Gabriel Boric have become strained since he was elected three years ago. He has since introduced a number of restrictive measures.

Frei, his predecessor, declared that the industry was determined not to be destroyed by bad aquaculture laws.

Arturo Clément said the industry was determined to protect itself and to grow responsibly over the next 25 years.

“We do not want our activity to disappear or diminish,” he added. “We want to be heard, to dialogue and, in this way, contribute to the growth of Chile. Unfortunately, there are many negative signals, a lack of confidence, of understanding and knowing what we do.”

The world would have three billion more inhabitants by 2050 and the Chilean salmon industry wanted to be there to help feed them.

The event attracted some of the country’s leading salmon producers including a number from Norway which has a strong investment interest in the Chilean aquaculture industry.