The crisis started with the dead salmon in March, when a red tide decimated 15 percent of the country’s salmon production, an economic loss of about $800 million.
Then came the millions of dead sardines, filling the beaches and harbors along the coast. This was followed by millions of beached clams, die-offs of jellyfish, birds, and marine mammals. Now, we can also add the apparent poisoning of people.
The Chilean government declared a state of disaster in the country’s southern coastal area as it tried to deal with the toxic red tide that has spread for hundreds of miles along the Patagonian coast. So much death has sparked panic among the population, especially fishermen and aquaculture workers.
Riots in Valparaíso, Santiago, Concepción, Temuco, Valdivia, Osorno, and Puerto Mont have brought out thousands of people in support of Chiloé Island, where the red tide has struck salmon farms particularly hard. Undercurrent News is reporting that salmon farmers are losing up to $10 million a day due to the toxic tide.
With the red tide an ongoing problem, fishing has been banned by the government. Fishermen are complaining about government compensation and that the crisis is the fault of the salmon farms who started dumping their dead fish back into the ocean after the March red tide kill-off.
When the Chilean government declared the state of disaster for the southern part of the country, about $150 (100,000 Chilean pesos) was paid to each impacted family. Many fishermen say this is just not enough.
“People don’t dare to eat our fish because they’re afraid it is contaminated, so we are all affected on the island,” says Marcos Salas, president of the Fishermen’s Union of Quellón, one of the main towns on the Chilean island of Chiloé, according to National Geographic. “We lost our labor source and now we have no way to bring sustenance to our families,” says Salas.
Oil spill adds to the crisis
An oil spill on Sunday into Quintero Bay has added to an already serious problem. Intake hoses broke free from an oil tanker, creating the spill, said state-owned energy company Empresa Nacional del Petroleo (ENAP). It appears that oil spills are frequent in Quintero, as this is the third one in as many years into the bay area close to the Valparaíso port, 120 km (75 miles) from the capital.
“This is an inexcusable fault. We will bring those responsible for the spill to justice,” said Environmental Minister Pablo Badenier, according to Prensa Latina. On Tuesday, the company fired the head of the Quintero port. As Fox News is reporting, in a statement, ENAP said they made the decision to fire Claudio Luengo to ensure the independence of the investigation and assist in determining those responsible for the spill.
Investigation into the salmon industry in Chile
Following complaints by fishermen and communities, the Chilean government, along with a scientific workforce in investigating the country’s salmon aquaculture industry, the second largest in the world. The industry has been accused of exacerbating the algal bloom by dumping rotten or contaminated fish into the sea.
“A team of five excellent professionals has been formed that will be working on the task of examining the link between the dumping of salmon and the red tide phenomenon,” said Economy Minister Luis Felipe Cespedes in a statement, according to EcoWatch.
But unraveling the crisis is not going to be easy. The El Nino weather pattern is partly to blame, according to Chilean officials, but fish farmers are responsible for the majority of the problem, with a buildup of fish feces and unfinished food that has been sinking to the ocean floor over a long period of time.
Added to all this is the runoff from mining operations inland along Chile’s coast, as well as the dumping of dead and diseased fish into the ocean, and things finally reached a breaking point for the environment. There is also the lack of enforcement of government regulations over the fishing industry. This crisis has been building up for years, and now it has come home to roost.
