Land-based RAS hatchery targeted in arson attack

It’s believed that Chilean Mapuche activists are responsible for attacking Ventisqueros’ land-based farm – which is being built with Billund Aquaculture RAS tech.

Police in Los Ríos Region, Chile, are investigating an arson attack that took place during the early hours of Sunday morning in a fish farm located in the municipality of Río Bueno.

PHOTO: Intendencia Los Ríos

Cooperativa.cl reports that Intendant César Asenjo said that a group of individuals got access to a private enclosure of the site then threatened and locked a guard in a container.

The group set fire to a tank truck and a road roller. They left a message which alluded to the cause of the Mapuche – the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM), an anti-capitalist organisation that uses direct action and sabotage tactics. The message demanded the release for Mapuche political prisoners (PPM) and warned against capitalist investment in the area.

The group claiming to represent the interests of Chile’s Mapuche people attacked a salmon farm construction site last May.

“We are going to make sure those who are responsible for the crimes of arson and threats are sanctioned in the penal code,” confirmed Los Rios Mayor Asenjo.

An investigation is currently underway.

In January, Ventisqueros inked a deal with Billund – specialists in (RAS) recirculation aquaculture systems – to build hatchery to produce six million salmon a year, in the hope to receive its first roe by the end of 2019, though environmental authorities temporarily halted construction in March.

Coordinator Arauco-Malleco or (CAM) is a Mapuche political organisation of an indigenous nature who carry out various sabotage actions by which some sectors have controversially granted them a terrorist group. Founded in 1998, CAM sometimes uses violent actions as a legitimate political tool to achieve its political project, which is the claim, recovery and independence of its ancestral territories of the Mapuche people over the jurisdiction of the State of Chile.

Newsletter

Related Articles