Chilean Salmon Farming on the Horizon of Sustainability: Review of the Development of a Highly Intensive Production, the ISA Crisis and Implemented Actions to Reconstruct a More Sustainable Aquaculture Industry

Abstract

Historically the Chilean economy has been based in exports accounting for 35% of the gross domestic product and mining is the main export income in the country. However, since 1980s as a part of a promotion the Chilean economy has diversified in part away from its dangerous over-reliance on copper exports. The growth of earnings in the fruit, wine, wood and forestry, fisheries and aquaculture sectors in particular, has been rapid since the early 1980s as Chile has exploited its comparative advantage in environmental endowment and low labour costs on the global market (Barton, 1997; Barton & Murray, 2009). The salmonid cultivation is restricted to regions with particular water temperature ranges in both fresh and seawater environments, sheltered waters and critically excellent water quality. Thus, salmonid aquaculture has become an important activity and the main development gear in the southern regions of Chile. The Chilean salmon industry has shown a fast development over the last 20 years and, therefore; today, Chile is the largest producer of farmed rainbow trout and Coho salmon, and the second worldwide of Atlantic salmon. This situation is the result from the application of innovation and development of value added products, which produced an average annual growth rate of 22% from 1990 to 2007 and an increase of exports from USD 159 million in 1991 to USD 2,242 million in 2007 (SalmonChile, 2007a). In 2006, salmon exports represented 12.94% of the non-mining-related national exports and 38.75% of the Chilean food exports that decreased due to a sanitary crisis down to 9.94% and 31.08% in 2010, respectively (Banco Central de Chile, 2010). The latter indicated that the salmon industry has become an important factor in economic diversification and one fundamental base in the strategy towards positioning Chile in the top rank of world food producers (SalmonChile, 2007b). The growth of aquaculture also impact positively other important sectors of the national economy, such as transport, processing, feed and engineer suppliers, laboratories, veterinary services and many others.