The President of Salmon Chile, Arturo Clement, has blasted the country’s President Gabriel Boric, after the Chilean leader accused the salmon industry of being “thoughtless about their actions.”
Speaking during a visit to the Los Lagos region this week, Boric stated that “salmon farming is an industry that gives a lot of work, but that has also been thoughtless about its actions and the environmental damage it has generated.”
The comment marks the latest attack from Boric against the salmon farming industry, which has come under pressure from government officials and authorities since he took office.
“We want to raise the standards and that the State has autonomous control capacity, that it does not depend on companies, and that in protected places the sea floor is not destroyed,” Boric added.
“We are not thoughtless. We want to be critical of ourselves and be able to improve in this young industry that has contributed so much to the development of the southern south,” Clement told BioBioChile.cl, responding to Boric’s remarks.
The regional president of the country’s Salmon Council, Gonzalo Silva, took a more cautious tone, accepting that “good oversight is essential to develop more sustainable productive activities.” However, he argued that it was already being promoted within the sector despite the government’s condemnation.