Main issues and challenges for sustainable development of salmon farming in Chile: a socio‐economic perspective

Abstract

We identify and discuss the main problems and challenges in sustainable development faced by the salmon farming industry in Chile from a socio‐economic perspective. This perspective is broad, in that it includes how the industry interacts with society and the environment, but also limited, in that it only assesses the impact on different social groups and economic agents. First, we present a brief description of the structure and socio‐economic relevance of salmon farming in the country. Second, we identify and discuss the primary current issues in the sustainable development of salmon farming in Chile. Third, we identify and discuss the challenges for developing sustainable salmon farming in Chile, including regulatory design and sectoral management, options for future expansion of the industry, responses and adjustments in the face of climate change and climatic variability, and the proper handling and growth of public‐private cooperation and goods governance.

Environmental issues in Chilean salmon farming: a review

“…; Chávez et al . ), and especially the regulatory framework (for a deep analysis see Fuentes & Engler ). The ISA crisis showed the need to strengthen the legal framework for environmental protection, including marine spatial planning, environmental protection and sanitary measures.…”

“…Effects of pharmaceutical (antibiotics) and chemical (pesticides, antifoulants, disinfectants) discharges from salmon farms to the marine environment Infections by bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses are frequent causes of morbidity and mortality in salmon aquaculture in Chile, and they have important negative effects on production and profit (Asche et al 2010;Cabello et al 2013;Dresdner et al 2019). The best approach to control pathogens in Chilean aquaculture is by improving sanitary conditions, husbandry and environmental practices, as well as discovering effective and environmentally friendly treatments (e.g.…”

“…Chile has one of the highest rates of antibiotic use in salmon production of the world (Buschmann et al 2009a;Millanao et al 2011). One of the reasons it is so high compared to other countries is that the main bacterial threat to salmon farming in Chile is Piscirickettsia salmonis, a facultative intracellular bacterium which has proven very difficult to address through vaccination (Miranda et al 2018;Figueroa et al 2019). In fact, in the fattening phase in seawater, 94.7% of the antibiotics used were for piscirickettsiosis, 4.5% for Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) and 0.73% for other diseases (SERNAPESCA 2017).…”

“…The sea lice Caligus rogercresseyi, is one of the main threats to the Chilean salmon industry because it can generate severe skin damage leading to chronic stress, reduced growth and reduced feed conversion efficiency (Gonz alez & Carvajal 2003; Rozas & Asencio 2007;Revie et al 2009;Gonz alez et al 2015). In addition, the disease commonly known as "caligidosis" increases the vulnerability of fish to other diseases and increases production costs (Bravo 2003;Johnson et al 2004;Lhorente et al 2014;Dresdner et al 2019). Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are the main species farmed in Chile which are affected by C. rogercresseyi (Bravo 2003;Gonz alez & Carvajal 2003).…”

“…The lessons from the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) crisis in 2007-2008 changed the Chilean production model of salmon farming (Iizuka & Jorge Katz 2015;Hosono et al 2016;Ch avez et al 2019), and especially the regulatory framework (for a deep analysis see Fuentes & Engler 2016). The ISA crisis showed the need to strengthen the legal framework for environmental protection, including marine spatial planning, environmental protection and sanitary measures.…”