Salmon Aquaculture in Chile: Production Growth and Socioeconomic Impacts

ABSTRACT Global aquaculture production has been rapidly increasing in recent decades. Associated with this growth, there has been a discussion with respect to the industry's socioeconomic impact. In particular, the industry's ability to make a positive difference in the communities where it is conducted is often questioned. This is a difficult topic to address due to limited data availability. However, it is a critical question concerning the aquaculture industry's long‐term viability. Some recent studies have addressed specific indicators such as poverty reduction in a given country. However, no studies review the impact of an aquaculture industry on a broad set of indicators over time. In this paper, we review the impact of the Chilean salmon industry on three broad socioeconomic indicators: employment, salary level and migration; as well as several narrower indicators. While data beyond production initially are scarce and mostly found in the gray literature, the information they provide connects well with newer data sets as they become available. Not unexpectedly, employment in the Chilean aquaculture industry increases with production. The industry pays relatively well, and it has a societal impact as opportunities created by the industry first reverse outward migration and then lead to inward migration. This is also associated with reduced poverty, a more even income distribution, a higher female labor participation ratio, and higher education levels. While the overall socioeconomic impacts of the industry are positive, they are also disrupted by severe environmental crises and show that the socioeconomic benefits are conditioned on environmental sustainability.