Scotland’s cabinet secretary for rural affairs, land reform and islands, Mairi Gougeon has been visiting aquaculture operators in Chile as part of a new initiative that aims to strengthen ties between the two countries’ aquaculture sectors.
Gougeon, who was in Puerto Montt for the Aqua Sur trade show, toured Chinquihue – a land-based smolt farm owned by Lago Sofia. She was part of a delegation that also included the private secretary for rural affairs, Rahul Singh; the special advisor to the Scottish Ministers, Kate Higgins; the deputy director for marine economy and communities, Malcolm Pentland; and the head of aquaculture development, Jill Barber.
According to Goudgeon, it was interesting to see how this company operates and the investment it makes in animal health and welfare, as well as observing the importance they give to the community, both in the decisions they make and in the business they build.
She added that both environmental and social values are exactly what they are trying to implement in Scottish aquaculture.
“We published our vision for sustainable aquaculture last year because we want to see sustainable growth in this activity in our country, but we know that we need to do that by working with the environment that we have, trying to improve the environment, but also making sure that we are working with our communities too, because that is a really essential part of that process,” the minister said.
In turn, the CEO of Lago Sofia, Miguel Portus, commented that this visit became an excellent opportunity to present some of the contributions his company has made in terms of technology and design of their RAS modules.
“These systems have been known in the market for some time; here we could appreciate how from a high standard in sustainability and animal welfare, a smolt production project was assembled, which has become a benchmark within the country’s fish farms. We feel very honored that Minister Gougeon has considered our facilities and has given us almost a full morning of her time,” he said
