Salmon Farming in Chile

In March 2011, I will be traveling the Aysen region of Patagonia, in southern Chile, with my partner Bridget Besaw, co-producer at Fieldwork Pictures, to cover the salmon farming industry in the region, which is both wreaking environmental havoc in the coastal ecosystems, and disrupting the fabric of traditional fishing villages. We will spend about five days in the field with our site producer Daniel Casado, and then another five days in production central on the private island of Jechica. We’re excited to be in the field with Daniel because he lived for five years in this region and has personal relationships with many of the fishermen whom we’re hoping to interview. Not to mention, Dani is Chilean and speaks great English, so he’ll be our on-site translator and a great asset!

According to a UN report, global consumption of fish is at at a record high. All over the world, natural fish stocks are being depleted due to a number of factors including overfishing and pollution. Aquaculture—the farming of fish and other aquatic organisms under controlled conditions—is increasingly being seen as a golden solution because it is a means of producing animal protein on a large scale without relying on already overburdened natural fish populations—but it’s not that simple. According to this report, aquaculture in the Aysen region of Patagonia is set to increase more than threefold in coming years. These figures are of concern both to environmentalists—who fear that fish farming is polluting and degrading fragile coastal ecosystems, and that genes from genetically modified farm-raised fish will cross over into wild fish populations—and traditional fisherman, who have been stewards of wild fish populations for generations and rely on fishing for their livelihoods. The story of the growing salmon-farming industry in Chile is front page headline news in the South American country, but little is heard of it the United States. During our travels in the Aysen region, we aim to shed light on both these stories—the environmental one and cultural one—and share them with a wider audience outside of Chile.

Aysen region of Patagonia, Chile / salmon farming pens off coast, photo courtesy of Sam Beebe, Ecotrust