As part of the “National Week of Science and Technology” activities held in Ushuaia, the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea participated in a round table on aquaculture projects in the Beagle Channel. More than 100 people participated in a 3-hour dialogue about the risks of salmon farming.
A hundred people attended the «Round Table: Aquaculture in the Beagle Channel», motivated by the two ongoing projects that set out to install cages for salmonids farming (salmon and trout), two exotic species, in Tierra del Fuego. Researchers, students, teachers, social organizations, residents and even the Secretary of Science and Technology of Tierra del Fuego, Gabriel Koremblit, were part of the participating public.
Biologist Cristina Torres, coordinator of the marine conservation program of WWF Chile, participated on behalf of the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and with the support of the Argentine Wildlife Foundation, and stated the position of the network that comprises more than 20 NGOs and the experience of the industry in the neighboring country. Other speakers were Andrea Raya Rey (Biologist, CADIC-CONICET), Manuel Isidora Lopez (Lawyer, National Technological University, UTN) and Rodrigo Kataishi (Economist, National University of Tierra del Fuego).
The possibility of addressing the issue from different viewpoints made it possible to talk about the risks and challenges of the activity from an integrated perspective. In general, attendees expressed their enormous concern and they rejected the possibility of installing salmon farms in the area.
The meeting was part of the National Week of Science and Technology organized by CADIC-CONICET, and it took place on Monday, September 3 at the CADIC premises, in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego.