A native of San Francisco, Christian Molinari has lived and worked in Chile for over 20 years, after having arrived in Santiago as a volunteer and falling in love with the culture and its people. He covered business news in Latin America for over a decade, worked in communications at IBM Chile, and currently freelances in strategic communications and reporting.
Author Archive
The Chilean and Chinese governments signed an agreement in mid-October that will result in an increase exports of Chilean aquaculture products, including fresh coho salmon, to China.
The Chilean National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) celebrated the agreement, while publicly, Chile's largest coho farmers have been more reserved in their approach.
“I want to highlight the protocol where the Chinese Customs Authority will
… Read More
The El Niño weather pattern that has affected the fishing sectors of Peru and other Latin American countries this year may be sticking around longer than anticipated, a potential outcome that is alarming the region’s fishers and aquaculture farmers.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the ongoing El Niño event – a climate pattern that causes ocean surface warming in the central and eastern Pacific
… Read More
Several salmon-farming centers in southern Chile have activated contingency plans responding to harmful algae blooms, the Chilean National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) reported recently.
The 18 farming centers under contingency plans are located in the Reloncaví Estuary and have a combined biomass in the water of 79,727 metric tons (MT). To date, two salmon-farming companies operating in the area – Trusal and
… Read More
Puerto Montt, Chile-based salmon farmer Salmones Camanchaca increased its Atlantic salmon harvest to 17,760 metric tons (MT) in Q3 2023, a 24 percent year-over-year increase, but the jump in production was not enough to keep the company from falling into the red for the second straight quarter.
“This was a very challenging quarter due to the weakness of global demand and its effects on prices, added to costs that included higher prices of
… Read More
Punta Arenas, Chile-based salmon farmer Nova Austral has successfully appealed a sanction levied by the Chilean Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) that aimed to revoke the company’s environmental license for its Cockburn 14 grow-out center.
The July 2022 sanction, which the SMA hailed at the time as a “historic decision” against “a recalcitrant offender,” targeted three of Nova Austral’s farming centers
… Read More
Amid a strained atmosphere in Chile that has pitted environmentalists against salmon farmers, Chilean trade body SalmonChile recently released a sustainability report highlighting the economic boost its business has given the country, while also stressing its efforts at lightening its environmental footprint.
SalmonChile has published the sustainability report annually for eight years, which, according to SalmonChile President Arturo Clement, is
… Read More
Creditors of the troubled salmon-farming firm Nova Austral have decided to push back a vote on a proposed restructuring until 9 November, after the beleaguered Punta Arenas, Chile-based company – reportedly USD 560 million (EUR 530 million) in debt – proposed three different reorganization options.
Nova Austral has been under intense public scrutiny from Chile’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), which
… Read More
Peru’s Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) authorized a 26 October launch of the second anchovy fishery season in the country’s north-central zone, establishing a total allowable catch (TAC) of 1.68 million metric tons (MT) and giving hopes to Peruvian fishermen and the seafood industry as a whole that had to adjust to the first season’s cancelation earlier this year.
The newly established TAC aligns with recommendations from the
… Read More
Chilean fish-farming company Smart Aquaculture SpA is continuing to gather both community support and the information it needs to pass the environmental approval process associated with building a USD 180 million (EUR 170 million) recirculating aquaculture system (RAS).
The company recently concluded another round in the citizens participation process – in which a firm meets with stakeholders to share information regarding the proposed
… Read More
China’s imports of Argentine red shrimp surged 232 percent during the first eight months of 2023, pushing Argentina into the top three of shrimp-exporting nations to China, according to a report by the Foreign Trade Department of Ecuador’s National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), based on official statistics from China’s Customs Department.
In metric tons, Ecuador continued its reign as the top shrimp supplier to China from
… Read More