Saving Seas from Fish Farming

From “Press” November 3, 2026

Abridged

Made up of more than 40 small islands, the Guaitecas Archipelago is a gateway to Chile’s Patagonia region that is one of the world’s most remote places. Despite being a national reserve, it’s also home to numerous salmon farms that discharge hundreds of tons of chemicals and antibiotics into the sea every year.

Chile is the world’s second largest salmon producer after Norway, and the fish is the Latin American country’s second most exported product, after copper. In 2025, over one million tons were produced in the country, according to Sernapesca.

Salmon is not native to Chilean waters. The fish was first imported from Norway in the 1970s and 1980s, during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

Chemicals

For years, intensive salmon farming in Chile has been criticised by scientists, environmental advocacy groups, fishers, Indigenous communities and local residents, who accuse the industry of polluting the sea because of the large quantities of chemicals used at the farms, failing to respect the rights of Indigenous communities and breaching workplace safety regulations. 

According to figures provided by the Chilean nonprofit Ecoceanos, 90 workers have died in the industry since 2013. Fatal accidents range from workers getting entangled while cleaning nets to shipwrecks among vessels in the area.

Severe Damage

Many locals and scientists say that salmon farms have severely damaged multiple marine areas, leaving parts of the seabed with oxygen levels so low that other forms of life struggle to survive. They describe these areas as “dead.” 

“Intensive salmon farming can have various impacts on marine ecosystems. Pollution can result both from the accumulation of organic matter and from the use of chemicals,” said Catalina Sapag, a marine biologist and scientific area coordinator at the nonprofit Oceana in Chile.

Despite opposition, particularly in the south of the country, there is strong support for the salmon industry, as it generates many jobs.

SalmonChile, a trade association representing many farming companies, argues that the decline in fish stocks can’t be attributed just to salmon farming.

“It may be due to various factors, such as climate change, changes in water temperature, illegal fishing, overexploitation of resources and the introduction of non-native species for recreational fishing. The industry therefore represents only one of the factors at play,” the association said in a statement. 

The United States accounts for 40% of Chile’s salmon exports ($2.6 billion), followed by Japan with 17% (just over $1 billion) and Brazil with 13% ($796 million), according to figures from SalmonChile.