Camanchaca, Trusal, Cermaq, Salmones Porvenir hit with overproduction charges in Chile

Chile’s Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) charged Salmones Camanchaca on 12 June with alleged overproduction at its Leucayec grow-out center in the southern Aysén region.

According SMA’s national information system on environmental audits (Snifa), Camanchaca allegedly surpassed its 5,000 MT production limit by 14.6 percent, or 728 metric tons (MT), between March 2019 and July 2020.

On 13 June, SMA filed overproduction charges against the multiple operators of the Isla Juan grow-out center, located in the Magallanes region, for allegedly surpassing the farm’s 5,200 MT limit by 1,092 MT between June 2018 and July 2020. 

Salmones Austral subsidiary Trusal was the holder of the aquaculture concession at the time, but Cermaq Chile was leasing the center. Salmones Provenir took over the farm in August 2021, also giving it culpability, according to the SMA documents, which list all three companies as alleged transgressors. 

"[Overproduction] directly threatens the sustainability of the aquaculture sector since the entire system of standards and authorizations considered in establishing optimal production, compatible with the capacity levels of lakes, [as well as] fluvial and/or maritime bodies of water, is violated,” SMA said in its complaint.

Chilean authorities have initiated a legal crackdown on salmon farming rules violations since Chile President Gabriel Boric entered office in January 2022, and that effort has been ramped up further in recent months. In February, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) passed on information regarding overproduction to SMA, which subsequently initiated sanctioning processes against salmon firms in the Aysén and Magallanes regions. These included two Nova Austral operations and one Blumar farm in the Magallanes region, as well as a Multiexport grow-out center and one Mowi farm in the Aysén region.

The four companies face ...

Photo courtesy of Sernapesca