90 deaths claim throws spotlight on Chile salmon industry.
Chilean news outlet El Ciudadano has reported that 90 workers linked to the country’s salmon farming industry have died in work-related incidents over the past 13 years, following a fatal vessel sinking in the Reloncaví Estuary late last month.
The outlet said the service vessel Koñimó I, which was operating in support of salmon farming activity near Ralún, sank in the early hours of 28 January 2026, resulting in six fatalities. The incident brings the number of reported salmon-industry worker deaths in Chile so far this year to eight, according to the report.
The article cites figures compiled by Centro Ecoceanos, which claims that between March 2013 and January 2026 a total of 90 workers have died in incidents associated with salmon farming operations, including at sea sites, processing plants and maritime transport.
Ecoceanos argues that the cumulative total would place Chile as having the highest worker fatality rate in the global salmon farming sector, which it attributes to what it describes as substandard labour and safety conditions. The organisation has long been critical of Chile’s salmon industry and regulatory framework.
El Ciudadano also highlighted comments made on TVN, where a presenter described the accident as occurring in an industry that operates with “the highest safety standards”. Ecoceanos criticised the statement, saying it contrasts with its own data.
Chile is the world’s second-largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon after Norway and a major supplier to markets including the United States, Japan and Brazil. The country’s salmon sector employs tens of thousands of workers directly and indirectly.
Neither the Chilean fisheries authority nor major salmon producers had responded publicly to the claims at the time of El Ciudadano’s report.