An organization of artisanal fishermen from Coquimbo in Chile has become the first to have permission to carry out experimental aquaculture activities of exotic species in a management area. This advance is the result of the coordinated work performed by several sector institutions and the multidisciplinary team of the Aquaculture Program in Management Areas.
In an unprecedented activity on land and sea, during the last week of October, the Association of Artisanal Fishermen of Los Choros, together with the Aquaculture Program in Management Areas of the Catholic University of the North, carried out the stocking of 25,000 seeds of Pacific or Japanese oyster (Crassostrea gigas) in the Management Area (AMERB) “El Apolillado”.
The action was carried out within the framework of the project “Technological Release Program in Japanese oyster farming in AMERB for the Region of Coquimbo: Regulatory and socio-productive considerations”, initiative supported by Innova Chile of Corfo and performed by the UCN .
The seeds of the exotic species were purchased from Cultimar SA of Tongoy, and then moved to the northern end of the Coquimbo Region for stocking within the process of technological transfer in farming the Pacific or Japanese oyster. This stage was carried out using three different types of systems (flashlights, pearl-net and chinguillos) in order to evaluate their performance.
“Today we can do aquaculture in 40 per cent of our management areas, it is the future of our business, that is to say, our alternative to continue growing, since the natural product that is there has quotas that have already reached their maximum production levels in many management areas, then there are other work ideas, such as aquaculture in management areas, for this to grow, said Gabriel Molina, president of the Association of Artisanal Fishermen of Los Choros.
For his part, the regional director of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Regions of Atacama and Coquimbo, Javier Chavez, said: “Particularly, I am very happy because we have worked very closely with the technical team of the Catholic University of the North and with artisanal fishing in order to strengthen this type of actions intended to have a viability according to the current regulations, and of which we have also become part in terms of modifying the regulations that allow us to give life to which nowadays means the development of small-scale aquaculture in management areas. (…) In short, the most important thing is that we make significant progress in establishing the mechanisms, the ways, in learning all together, how we can develop aquaculture activities in management areas, which allows it to be a real alternative so that the coastal communities can have income for the needs that the current world requires.”
Also, Cristian Lopez, regional director of the National Service of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SERNAPESCA) of Coquimbo, said: “Today we have ups and downs in several fisheries and other overexploitation, so the artisanal fisherman to have sustainable work, today needs to have a productive diversification perspective, and aquaculture in management areas goes in that line, therefore, it is necessary to support this initiative and have it in follow-up to see how it develops.”
The project, together with the organizations, will continue to monitor the stocked species until their harvest.
The same work will be carried out with the organizations: Cooperative of Artisanal Fishermen of Los Vilos Ltda., Artisanal Fishermen’s Association of Caleta San Pedro de Los Vilos and the Association of Artisanal Fishermen of Tongoy. In the latter, the sectors where small-scale farming will be carried out will be expanded for the experienced fish farmers of Tongoy, where the Japanese oyster will also be incorporated into the aquaculture basket to offer the public an appealing exotic species of commercial interest.
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