The model proposes a risk-based regulation system for salmon farming in Chile, integrating environmental and productive variables to move towards a more preventive and sustainable management.
A team of Chilean researchers, led by the Principal Investigator of the Applied Research Center, CIA-INCAR², Dr. Doris Soto, proposes an innovative model to regulate salmon farming in Chile, integrating environmental, sanitary and productive variables to advance towards more sustainable aquaculture.
This development is the result of a research project initiated more than five years ago, mainly funded during the FONDAP INCAR Center stage, and which continues to be deepened in its current phase as CIA-INCAR², consolidating a line of research aimed at the sustainable management of aquaculture based on scientific evidence.
The scientific article that proposes moving towards the implementation of a "traffic light" system for salmon farming in Chile, based on the integrated risk assessment at ecosystem scale and published in the journal Reviews in Aquaculture, provides a conceptual and methodological framework that aims to strengthen the regulation of the sector under a preventive and evidence-based approach.
The research, titled Risk Is Not Equal to Impact: The Challenges of Developing a Traffic Light System to Regulate Farmed Salmon Production on an Ecosystem Scale, was led by Dr. Doris Soto and included the participation of specialists from various institutions, including Dr. Rodrigo Montes (UdeC-Incar²), Dr. Renato Quiñones (UdeC-Incar²), Dr. Jorge León-Muñoz (USCS-Incar²), Dr. Marcelo Fuentes (UdeC), Dr. Ruben Avendaño-Herrera (UNAB-Incar²), Elias Pinilla (IFOP), Dr. Jessica Fuentes (PUCV-Incar²) and Dr. Carlos Chávez (UTALCA-Incar²).
The study integrates information from a decade (2012-2022) considering productive, sanitary, oceanographic and climatic data from all salmon farming areas in the Patagonian sea of Chile. Based on this, the researchers developed a semi-quantitative model for environmental and productive risk assessment, aimed at serving as a guide for the design of a traffic light system that allows regulation of the activity. salmon farming. The analysis does not include more recent information because there was no access to production data from 2023 onwards, however, as the researchers stress, the production patterns have remained, so the analysis is fully valid.
Among the main findings, the model identifies that the highest levels of risk are concentrated in areas where high productive pressure coincides with a high environmental sensitivity, especially in fjords in the regions of Los Lagos and Aysén. This approach allows priority to be given to critical areas and progress towards more preventive management, focused on reducing impacts before they materialize.
However, the team warns that there are still relevant information gaps to accurately determine impacts at the ecosystem level, particularly in relation to the so-called “inflection points”. Therefore, they emphasize the need to apply the precautionary principle and strengthen monitoring and data generation systems at appropriate spatial scales.
The proposal also highlights the importance of moving towards public-private collaborative processes, with the scientific community and civil society to validate data, define environmental risk thresholds for the seas of southern Chile and for industry itself, and establish governance mechanisms to implement this type of regulatory tools. Among the possible measures is the regulation of maximum production by cultivation area, as well as the reduction of antimicrobials and pesticides in which case the important thing is the total amount that is used and that can affect ecosystems.
The researchers also stress the need to review the current spatial distribution of salmon farming taking into account the above-mentioned risks and emerging factors such as climate change, thus moving towards a development model that balances productivity with environmental protection and social acceptance.
Finally, the team recognizes that the implementation of these measures involves social and economic challenges, so they call for a strengthened dialogue and collaboration among all the actors in the sector and its areas of location, with a view to building a more sustainable, resilient and long-term salmon culture.
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