Colin Bennett

Reporting from Santiago, Chile

Colin Bennett is an Iowa native now based in Santiago, Chile. Over the last 10 years Colin has covered a variety of topics in Chile and other Latin American countries. Food and the industry behind it has emerged as one of his favorite subject matters, from seafood to fruit, farming to retail. Colin enjoys examining the details which make the difference for these global industries that call Chile and its neighbors home.

Published on
April 20, 2018

The director of Sernapesca, Chile’s national fisheries service, has stepped down as the newly installed government of Chilean President Sebastian Piñera plans to make regulatory changes to the fishing industry. 

Sernapesca confirmed the departure of Josè Miguel Burgos in a statement published on its Twitter account, and that he would be replaced by the current vice director of aquaculture, Alicia Gallardo Lagno. No other

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Published on
April 17, 2018

AquaChile is interested in acquiring the salmon business of Friosur and has made an offer of USD 200 million (EUR 161.8 million), according to a report in Chilean business daily Diario Financero.

Friosur has been in the process of divesting its salmon business since the beginning of the year. 

Diario Financero, citing unnamed sources close to the deal, reported that AquaChile’s initial USD 200 million offer has yet to receive an

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Published on
April 13, 2018

Salmones Camanchaca CEO Jorge Fernández García will step down from his leadership role with the company in order to replace his father and company founder Jorge Fernández Valdes as president of the board of directors.

In a note filed with SVS, the Chilean salmon farming sector’s security regulator, Salmones Camanchaca confirmed the decision, which has been accepted by the company’s board.  Fernández

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Published on
April 6, 2018

Sernapesca, Chile’s national fishery and aquaculture service, has estimated that transactions involving illegally sourced fish and seafood amount to around USD 300 million (EUR 245 million) each year inside the South American country.

Sernapesca estimated it makes 200,000 site inspections and road stops in 2017, resulting in the confiscation of 2,238 tons of illegal marine resources. But Burgos said that represents just a small portion of

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Published on
April 6, 2018

The Ecuadorian shrimp industry, as represented by the country’s National Chamber of Aquaculture and the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP), says that it welcomes the addition of shrimp to the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), calling it a milestone for consumers to choose shrimp produced under the highest standards.

In a statement, the executive president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture Ecuador, Jose Antonio

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Published on
April 2, 2018

AquaChile has received an Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification for three of its salmon farm centers as it looks to continue its campaign to certify more of its salmon operations.

According to a press statement from the company, the company has received certification for its Quilque Sur (Calbuco), Serapio (Cochamò) and Chauque (Quemchi) centers in the south of Chile. 

The company

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Published on
March 2, 2018

AquaChile said that decreased costs for its Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon, and tilapia, paired with good sales prices for all its salmon and trout species, helped deliver net profits of USD 58.9 million (EUR 48.2 million) in 2017.

In a statement, the firm said that the 2017 figures far exceeded its bottom line in 2016, when profits totaled USD 6.9 million (EUR 5.6 million).

Consolidated sales through 31 December, 2017, reached USD 632.7

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Published on
March 1, 2018

AquaChile has formally started the process to list on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Oslo Børs), and Australis Seafood is reportedly following suit. 

Interest in investors for Chile’s leading salmon firms comes in the wake Salmones Camanchaca's IPO in early February.

AquaChile published a statement confirming it has started the process to list in Norway and approved a capital increase of up to USD 200 million (EUR 164 million) in an

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Published on
February 21, 2018

Chile’s Sub-Secretary of Fishing and Aquaculture (Subpesca) reported exports for the year totaling USD 5.68 billion (EUR 4.61 billion), a 19.6 percent increase over its exports in 2016, and 16 percent higher than the average of 2012-16.

According to the Subpesca report of preliminary harvest and export figures for 2017, the total harvest for the seafood sector totaled 1.15 million tons, an 18 percent increase over 2016. Of this amount,

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Published on
February 15, 2018

A rise in cases of harmful algae blooms has Chilean fishing authorities and its salmon farming industry on high alert, as companies have reported more than 2,450 metric tons (MT) of mortalities as a result.

Harmful algae blooms have been reported in three different farming zones so far in 2018, according to the latest report from Sernapesca, the Chilean national fisheries and aquaculture service.

The most affected region is Aysen, where 68

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