Are salmon aquaculture sustainable? Framing tensions over salmon farms in Patagonia

Abstract

In the Chilean Patagonia, the conflict related to the access and the use of the marine environment and its natural resources has become increasingly visible. The salmon industry has been the cornerstone of the development model promoted by the State and the private corporations, organizing the territory for the own profit. Although the environmental and social problems have intensified in recent years, salmon farming has created and spread the discourse of been a sustainable and environmentally-conscious activity. The paper reviews three socio-environmental controversies in which salmon farming has been involved: i) the reduced carbon footprint; ii) the Lafkenche Law and Indigenous Marine Areas as a barrier to development; iii) the salmon environmental certification. Based on these results, we analyze how the narratives of the salmon companies are framing the territorial tensions that create its growth and expansion in Patagonia. Through this analysis, we conclude that under the frame’s disputes of sustainability in Chilean Patagonia, there is a growing tension between different marine commons property regimes.