Protests paralyse Chile’s salmon processing industry.
Diaro Financio reports that Arturo Clément, president and spokesperson for the Chilean trade organisation Salmonchile, said that six salmon production plants are “paralysed” in Quellón, on Isla de Chiloé, in Chile’s salmon heartlands.
Yesterday, footage emerged from the Port of San Vicente in Talcahuano with a truck containing salmon fillets being looted. The town has number of salmon plants there including Ventisquieros, Salmones Camanchachas and Blumar.
The plants affected in Quellón are Salmones Austral, AquaChile and Marine Farm, among others. The companies were threatened with possible attacks, so it was decided to close them, Clément explained. In other cases, groups of protesters evicted the workers.
AquaChile’s Aguas Claras plant was also attacked, when the installation access booth was set on fire, reports Aqua.cl.
“Indeed, we have been working partially in Quellón. There are plants that are paralyzed: there are six affected, those that have operated intermittently or have worked partially,” he said.
He added that he had been working closely with the unions in the hope to end the conflict.
However, Clément added that the situation will be complicated further if the protests continue as several routes are blocked, putting more exports at risk. “As the mobilisations continue, there may be an impact on exports,” Clément acknowledged.
SalmonBusiness has contacted SalmonChile for comment.
