Members of the Chilean and Norwegian delegations pose with the Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Chile, Julio Salas, and the Fisheries State Secretary of Norway, Even Tronstad (seventh and eighth from the left, respectively), after the signing of the cooperation agreement between the two countries.
Photo: Subpesca.
Chile and Norway signed yesterday a new cooperation agreement on fisheries and aquaculture, with a special focus on the areas of food security and sustainable development. The Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries seeks to promote an exchange of information and experiences that will allow them to share and address the main challenges and tasks of the seafood sector. Among the matters included in the MoU are public policies, regulations, and fisheries and aquaculture administration, including artisanal fishing and small-scale aquaculture.
Julio Salas, Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Chile, and Even Tronstad, State Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries of Norway, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective countries. The meeting between the two took place within the framework of the aquaculture trade fair AquaSur, which is being held in Puerto Montt, Chile, this week.
From an economic and commercial point of view, Chile and Norway are the main salmon producers in the world, together accounting for a majority percentage of global production, which makes them competitors.
However, both countries share a history of more than 100 years of understanding and international cooperation, as well as a common interest and vision in matters related to the ocean. Moreover, Chile currently represents the second-largest trade and investment destination for Norway in South America.
With that shared outlook, both countries have met to exchange information and experiences, including public policies, regulations, and fisheries and aquaculture administration, including artisanal fishing and small-scale aquaculture; sustainability, supervision, sanitary control, and public-private cooperation in aquaculture; progress and challenges in terms of gender equity policies in the fisheries and aquaculture sector; and control of hydrobiological pests.
"Norway and Chile have a longstanding collaboration in aquaculture. Although we are seafood competitors in the global market, we also share common challenges, and it is important that we exchange experiences and maintain close contact. Now, we are continuing and strengthening the long-standing cooperation we have had with Chile," said the Fisheries State Secretary of Norway, in this regard.
"Global challenges such as contributing to world food security and achieving greater sustainability in the development of extractive and aquaculture activities are common aspects on which Chile and Norway are working together," said Chile's Undersecretariat of Fisheries (Subpesca), which also listed the contributions that Norway's example can bring to the sector.
"For the Norwegian authority, it is important to recognize the role of salmon farming as a contribution to global food security, but always taking care of the environment to grow in a sustainable way. In that country, they have implemented robust regulations that allow and guarantee the development of a highly regulated and supervised sustainable activity, and in addition, among other aspects, they are making progress in implementing a system of incentives to encourage the industry to use technologies," Subpesca continued in its release on the cooperation agreement.
In the framework of this Chile-Norway meeting, Undersecretary Salas explained that aquaculture and fishing have been consolidated as relevant activities for Chile from an economic, territorial, and social point of view and that is why the current government of President Boric is promoting a bill for a "new, modern and transparent" General Fisheries Law.
In addition, the head of Subpesca also announced that the Chilean Government will begin the development of a new General Aquaculture Law that can respond to the multiple challenges of the sector and consolidate its harmonious development in the coming decades.