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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Chile
Index
The cold waters of South America's western coast are
rich in
fish and contain a wide variety of shellfish. For
instance, about
800 varieties of mollusks are found there, including the
largest
abalones and edible sea urchins in the world. Some
species, such as
the abalones, had been depleted to the point that they
could not be
harvested legally. About 750 kilometers from the mainland,
the
waters surrounding the Islas Juan Fernández are much
warmer and
contain different types of fish and shellfish, including
lobster.
Fishing expanded rapidly starting in the late 1970s. By
1983
Chile was ranked fifth in the world in catch tonnage and
had become
the world's leading exporter of fish meal. Despite
naturally caused
year-to-year variations, the volume of the total fish
catch had
increased over the long term. For example, in 1970 the
total catch
was 1.2 million tons, but the figures increased to 2.9
million tons
in 1980 and 6.3 million tons in 1989. The total catch was
about 5.4
million tons in 1990 according to Central Bank data. Total
fish
caught in 1991, reached 6 million tons, and fishing
exports totaled
US$1.1 billion, up 21 percent from 1990 and 138 percent
from 1985
(see
table 28, Appendix). Of the 1991 figure, fish meal
accounted
for US$466 million. Fish exports rose to 6.5 million tons
in 1992.
Salmon production was expected to reach 46,000 tons in
1992,
earning about US$250 million and turning the country into
the third
largest producer in the world (after Norway and Canada).
Starting
with fifty-three tons in 1981, the explosive growth in
salmon
production and exports reflected the combination of
perfect natural
conditions for its cultivation in the south with the
successful
adaptation of modern technology.
By the early 1990s, a lack of fishing regulations was
threatening some species and giving the large fishing
fleets
advantages over the smaller-scale, traditional fishermen
who use
small boats. After long debate, Congress approved the new
General
Fishing Law in July 1991. The law's purpose was to
encourage
investment in commercial fishing by ensuring the
conservation of
hydrobiological resources, by protecting against
overfishing, by
reserving for traditional fishermen an exclusive
eight-kilometer
strip of coastal waters, and by promoting fishing
research. The
infrastructure plan also included providing resources for
developing large and small ports for industrial and
traditional
fishing. Total output of industrialized fish products was
expected
to increase significantly with new investments during the
1990s.
Both the good catches in the 1989-91 period and the
openness of the
regulations had prompted Chilean companies to invest a
total of
US$100 million and to build nearly twenty boats.
Data as of March 1994
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