In July, the province of Tierra del Fuego approved Law 23/2021, which prohibited the cultivation and production of salmonids in its jurisdictional waters (Beagle Channel), “in order to ensure the protection, preservation and safeguarding of the natural resources, genetic resources and lake and marine ecosystems ”.

The prohibition of this industry in the province of Tierra del Fuego is a victory for environmentalists, since they raised the awareness of the island's population about the risks of the industry, in addition they mobilized people and protested against the industry, It is a victory for the environmentalists, the people and a victory for the Beagle Channel, which will no longer be at risk. But what risk does salmon farming entail?

  

The salmon farms were going to ruin the ecosystems of the canal, since first of all, the scale production of this cause that millions of kilos of excrement, antibiotics and balanced food are discarded in the sea. In addition to this, all the marine fauna that would have lived under the cages were at risk since this industry consumes oxygen in seawater on a large scale. The possibility that hundreds of pink salmon escaped from the cages also posed a risk, which would affect the native marine fauna as this is a foreign species.

 

But what about all the money and jobs this industry would generate? Although it is true that this industry would generate millions of dollars for the country and hundreds of jobs, it would also affect another great industry in the province, which is tourism, since thousands of people come to this province a year to get to know the canal. beagle that represents the southern union between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, and it must be understood that the salmon industry was putting this channel at risk, and therefore the 17,000 jobs related to tourism in this province.