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He made these statements during the Second Workshop of the Regional Coastal Edge Use Commission, which is convened on February 29 to resolve the requests.
“It has become clear that the industry, I want to be very responsible, has moved a large number of people, organizations, and has distorted all of this. And I have not accused it, but many have repeated it,” she pointed out.
Nelson Matissine, historic leader of the Aysén fishermen, accused the salmon industry of intervening in the discussion process on Protected Coastal Marine Spaces (ECMPO) in order to stall the process. The fisherman from Islas Huichas made these statements during the 2nd Workshop of the Regional Commission for the Use of the Coastal Edge, held this Wednesday in the Regional Government of Aysén, as a prelude to the vote that should be held on Thursday, February 29.
On the occasion, the leader expressed that “It became clear that there is an effort on the part of the aquaculture industry to ensure that this process does not advance, that it stagnates.”. In this sense, he pointed out that this is appreciated by the participation in these spaces of actors who, in other circumstances, would not be able to do so. “We have limited resources. And when we have to defend our territory, due to what was previously said, then we have no way to move economically. But it has become clear that the industry, I want to be very responsible, has moved a large number of people, people, organizations, and has distorted all of this. And I have not accused it, but many have repeated it” he explained.
He added that “You will understand that a single aquaculture concession is valued in millions of dollars. Therefore, what would it cost to get a little to finance a campaign to discredit, to basely and vilely print lies that are not true?”.
Regarding the interests of salmon farming, he stated that “No fishermen’s leader is against the industry, we are against bad practices. And here it has been openly pointed out that what they are pursuing is more and more territory, more scope with respect to what they want. And this request kind of slows them down a little. But it does not mean that they are tripped up to continue producing, they can continue producing. They have their rights acquired within the ECMPO”.
Second Workshop of the Regional Coastal Edge Use Commission
During the workshop, which lasted all day both in person and online, multiple regional actors from different sectors as well as coastal residents presented their points of view. In many cases, aligned with the interests of the salmon industry by recognizing that they are social leaders and fishermen, but at the same time workers in aquaculture companies or service providers for this productive sector.
A highlighted point was the request for greater transparency and participation in this type of processes. In this sense, it was proposed that this requirement is necessary not only for this particular case but for all those that involve decisions about the coastline and maritime area of Aysén. This is given that when a decision has been made on relocations and salmon concessions, these types of requests have not been heard from the same actors who today demand greater participation.
