In Chile, indigenous communities have demonstrated against Norwegian companies for many decades. I took the trip.
Published: 06/05/2024 09:00
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Nova Austral responds to the criticism at the bottom of the case.
The Norwegian farming industry has really been in the public spotlight in the past year, at least the one that takes place on home soil. I have traveled to the other side of the globe – to Chile – where indigenous communities along the entire coast have been demonstrating against Norwegian companies for many decades.
The journey started in Puerto Montt. The city not only marks the start of Patagonia, but also the start of the Norwegian-Chilean salmon adventure. In 2007, a virus was discovered at one of the Norwegian-owned Cermaq’s breeding facilities, and it probably came from Norwegian salmon eggs.
Forced slaughter and mass redundancies
Poor environmental standards meant that the virus spread at record speed. The result was forced slaughter and mass redundancies, which affected the entire industry and the Chilean economy. Oxygen-poor fjords and rotting salmon triggered a huge algae bloom in the area, which poisoned the sea and killed almost all marine life. After this crisis, the salmon industry realized it was time to find cooler and cleaner seas to frolic in – and began its expansion south.
This does not mean that they left the region altogether – some facilities remained and contributed to new scandals. Like when 690,000 salmon escaped from the Marine Harvest facility in 2018 in one of the largest mass escapes in Chilean salmon history. After this, Marine Harvest changed its name to Mowi – another Norwegian company.
From Puerto Montt I went south to a small island north of the Guaitecas nature reserve. In a few hours I managed to see penguins, blue whales and sea lions. But most of all – traces of the farming industry. Large blowers and boxes. An entire cage washed up on a beach. Over 300 salmon concessions have been granted in this nature reserve, and the industry is applying for more and more.
Encountered angry protesters
Lonko Daniel, a local indigenous leader, took me on a boat trip. Huge salmon nets floated in every strait. “We used to dive for sea urchins there,” he said, pointing towards the Mowi facilities.
Like the salmon companies, I went on to Punta Arenas, one of the world’s southernmost cities. In 2019, our royal couple was on a state visit to Chile and here the local population showed up in a demonstration against Norwegian salmon farming in their areas. It’s no wonder they were critical. The Norwegian company Nova Austral is based here. They are responsible for one of the latest scandals in Chilean farming.
For several years, Nova Austral produced much more salmon at its facilities than it was allowed to. The overproduction caused major damage to the seabed in the middle of a national park, and to hide the offense and continue production, the company dumped a new seabed over the old one before an environmental inspection.
It’s no wonder that the King and Queen encountered angry protesters when they traveled around Chile, and perhaps it’s time to discuss why here at home.
Nicolás Marticorena responds on behalf of Nova Austral:
Nova Austral has made great efforts over several years regarding the consequences of the trial in 2019, including to maintain its presence in the Magallanes region of Chile. Nova Austral is one of the largest employers in the regional capital Porvenir.
Today, Nova Austral is a completely different company. More than four years ago, the company revamped its entire administration, strengthened all compliance controls and established an independent whistleblowing channel. Through professional and hard work, it was possible for Nova Austral to get back the international certifications for sustainable and environmentally friendly production that set high demands.
