Salmon industry tries to intimidate the Chilean government, Universidad Austral and Pew Research Center to control the Management Plan for Kawesqar National Reserve in Patagonia

• Carlos Odebret, president of the salmon companies operating in the extreme south of Chile, told La Tercera that «Pew, a U.S. NGO, provided 1.9 billion pesos to UACH, which were later transferred to CONAF in an amount we do not yet know. We hope it will be clarified in the investigation».
• The Kawesqar National Reserve is a pristine area of 28,423 km2 that has an exceptional marine biodiversity, which makes it an area highly desired by transnational salmon companies and Chilean business groups to relocate part of their 416 farming centers that are operating irregularly inside national parks and protected areas in Patagonia.
• According to Ecoceanos Centre, the salmon industry’s accusation is part of the strategy of political, communicational and social intimidation that began in May 2023, when through a campaign of fake news and street mobilization of its workers they pressured the parliament and the Minister of the Environment, managing to weaken the text of the law that created the System of Biodiversity and Protected Areas of the State.

Santiago de Chile, March 27, 2024 (radiodelmar.cl) Transnational salmon companies operating in Chilean Patagonia filed a complaint with the Comptroller General of the Republic against the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), to «investigate and determine the existence of a possible conflict of interest and/or possible violations of the principles of administrative probity, impartiality and serviceability» in the preparation of the Management Plan for the strategic Kawésqar National Reserve.

The Magallanes Salmon Producers Association denounced that between 2018 and 2020, CONAF established an agreement with The Pew Research Center and the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACH), for the financing of the management and management of the protected areas system in Chilean Patagonia.

Carlos Odebret, president of the salmon companies operating in the extreme south of Chile, told La Tercera that «Pew, a U.S. NGO, provided 1.9 billion pesos to UACH, which were later transferred to CONAF in an amount we do not yet know. We hope it will be clarified in the investigation». This complaint questions the hiring of two professionals by UACH to prepare the Management Plan for the Kawésqar Reserve, which according to Oldebrech would mean «an irregular influence in the preparation of the plan», since the Pew Charitable Trust «has expressed its interest in preventing the development of salmon farming».

The transnational salmon companies’ representative in Patagonia accused «the influence of Pew and the UACH over CONAF through its financing and control of its budget compromises the impartiality and objectivity of the public function that the latter performs».

According to Oldebret, this «corporate capture (sic) violates the principle of administrative probity, established in the Chilean Constitution and laws», favoring «private interests over the general interest», since this agreement would be a financial mechanism for Pew to influence CONAF, which would allow it to control the actions of the agency responsible for developing management plans for the State’s protected areas.

State protected areas: Victims of salmon farming appetite

The Kawesqar National Reserve is a pristine area of 28,423 km2 that has an exceptional marine biodiversity, which makes it an area highly desired by transnational salmon companies and Chilean business groups to relocate part of their 416 farming centers that are operating irregularly inside national parks and protected areas in Patagonia. There are currently 61 salmon farming concessions already operating within the Kawesqar National Reserve, with another 57 applications in process.

The Salmon political agenda 2024 2025

According to Ecoceanos Centre, the salmon industry’s accusation is part of the strategy of political, communicational and social intimidation that began in May 2023, when through a campaign of fake news and street mobilization of its workers they pressured the parliament and the Minister of the Environment, managing to weaken the text of the law that created the System of Biodiversity and Protected Areas of the State (SBAPs Law).

Juan Carlos Cárdenas, director of the Ecoceanos Centre, says, «the denunciation of the transnational salmon companies against CONAF, Pew Research Center and the UACH seeks to condition the elaboration and implementation of the Management Plan for the Kawesqar National Reserve”

Ecoceanos Centre alongside 100 citizen organizations demand that the Chilean government implement the UN Special Rapporteur’s recommendation.

Faced with the current salmon industry offensive, Ecoceanos Centre together with 100 citizen organizations, coastal communities and indigenous peoples have demanded that the government of President Gabriel Boric implement the recent recommendation made in March by the United Nations Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, David Boyd, during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

The UN Special Rapporteur’s report recognizes that «salmon farming is one of the main threats to the environment facing Patagonia, especially the Kawésqar National Park, which is important for the conservation of various species and ecosystems, including 32 species of cetaceans», and therefore recommends establishing «a moratorium on the expansion of the salmon farming industry pending an independent scientific report».