Greenpeace launching its global campaign 'Save the seas at the end of the world'. (Photo: Greenpeace)
Greenpeace urges Mitsubishi to cease salmon farming expansion in Magallanes
(CHILE, 2/10/2017)
Greenpeace urges Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi to stop expanding its salmon farming operations in Magallanes, as part of its new global campaign focused on protecting the seas of Chilean Patagonia.
The launch of the campaign, whose motto is "Save the seas at the end of the world," brought together people and activists who gathered in lighthouses across Chile on Wednesday along nearly 4,000 kilometres to claim the protection for ecosystems of the country's southern seas.
The main activity took place in the lighthouse of La Serena, with the presence of a hot air balloon that surprised tourists and carried a huge legend dedicated to the protection of the Magellan seas.
The new Greenpeace campaign highlights the international organization's recognition of the importance that the waters of the Magallanes area represent for the global ecosystem.
"Chile is home to 36 per cent of the world's marine mammal diversity, which is why the protection of its seas is key and of great relevance to the entire planet. From today, our partners and sympathizers around the world become watchers of the seas at the end of the world," said Estefania Gonzalez, coordinator of Greenpeace Oceans in Chile.
Greenpeace warns that the seas at the end of the world are seriously threatened by the expansion of the salmon industry. In this regard, it recalls that this sector already showed the devastating power that it can have on ecosystems with what happened last year in Chiloe, "when the dumping of nearly 5,000 tonnes of rotten fish off its coasts brought about a red tide crisis that triggered one of the most serious social and environmental disasters in recent years in the country."
In this sense, Greenpeace denounces the progress that several salmon companies are now trying to make towards the area of Patagonia, mentioning Cermaq in particular. This Norwegian company, which belongs to the Japanese economic giant Mitsubishi Group, is the second exporter of Chilean salmon, with an annual output of 41,556 tonnes.
"With a view to expansion and imminent danger, almost 100 per cent of the company's applications, if approved, would be located in national reservation areas in Magallanes," warns Greenpeace.
"What is at stake is the care of the purest waters of the planet. It is not possible that the interests of salmon companies are placed above an environmental heritage that belongs not only to Chile, but to the world," said Matias Asun, national director of Greenpeace in Chile.
And he added, "The Magallanes seas houses fundamental ecosystems that also have a unique relationship with indigenous peoples, such as the Kawésqar and Selk'nam, as well as fishing communities that depend on the good health of their sea for their subsistence and cultural development."
In this context of protection of the seas at the end of the world that drives Greenpeace, the case of the Chilean dolphin becomes iconic. The NGO points out that this species, which is endemic to the area, is being affected by the presence of antibiotics used massively by Chilean salmon farming, according to research. And he warned that this threat could increase significantly since its habitat is precisely where they now want to settle the salmon farms in Magallanes.
He also stressed that other species, such as whales, dolphins, penguins, sea lions and various birds that inhabit an area of National Parks and Reserves increasingly valued by national and international tourists are at risk.
Therefore, through this new campaign aimed at protecting and saving the seas at the end of the world, Greenpeace demands that Mitsubishi give up in its effort to expand its salmon farming activities to one of the last pristine seas of the planet.
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