Tierra del Fuego and Argentina have a beautiful opportunity ahead, but a great challenge: TO DO THINGS RIGHT.

Tierra del Fuego Salmon Could Not Escape the Law of Polarity

ARGENTINA
Friday, December 19, 2025, 10:00 (GMT + 9)

Between the opportunity for development and the risk of a "captive" industry: an in-depth analysis of productive sovereignty and the options presented.

From the very first moment it was proposed to authorize salmon breeding and fattening in the jurisdiction of the province of Tierra del Fuego —and with special emphasis on the Beagle Channel— the issue became trapped under the famous "Law of Polarity"¹. The debate fractured instantly: on one side, those who supported the introduction of salmonid aquaculture; on the other, those who reviled it without nuance.

This approach was institutionally blocked by Law 1355, enacted in 2021, which prohibited farming in the Beagle Channel and other provincial waters due to environmental concerns. However, in December 2025, this law was amended. The new regulation eases the prohibition and allows the activity in other areas of the island, while maintaining the protection of the Beagle Channel and the Mitre Peninsula. This change has rekindled a clash of visions between ecosystem protection and the urgency of generating employment and development.

The Official View: Total Support or Absolute Rejection?

In early 2024, a high-ranking official from the current National Government asked me a direct question: "What do you think of salmon aquaculture in Tierra del Fuego?". My response was not binary: I told him that I am in favor of aquaculture and that I love salmon, but that it is imperative to take extreme care not to repeat the disastrous experiences of Chile.

Source: Oceana. Click on the image to enlarge.

Before his expectant gaze, I quickly clarified that in our neighboring country, the industry prioritized immediate economic benefit by lowering costs through increased fish density in the cages. This forced the fish to coexist with low oxygenation and poor water quality, leading to gill diseases, malformations, and the sea lice plague. The consequence was a vicious cycle: an excess of antibiotics, constant vaccinations, and washing-delousing processes during the fattening stage.

Source: Oceana. Click on the image to enlarge.

I noticed that the official stopped paying attention to me. I was left with the bitter feeling that he only expected total support or absolute rejection. There was no interest in listening to technical arguments or possible solutions. It is vital to understand that today the chilean industry is gradually moving toward the standards of Norway, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, or Canada, and that is the only viable path.

The Source of the Business: Eggs and Sovereignty

The cycle begins with the eggs (ovas). If these are produced in Argentina, the genetics could be unified so that Tierra del Fuego Salmon can be registered or patented under a "Denomination of Origin."

<-- Photo: Aquagen

If, instead, the choice is made to import from Chile, the Fuegian salmon will be born "tied" as a mere subsidiary of the Chilean system, remaining commercially captive to whatever happens in the brother country.

Fattening Models: Beyond Open Cages

Public knowledge about production technologies is limited. Most people only know about the open cages used in Chile, which not only face problems with sea lions but also profoundly alter the seabed through the generation of algae and waste.

Model of 'open' fattening cages

However, there are alternatives that must be evaluated:

• RAS Systems (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems): Land-based facilities that are the cleanest option. However, their high investment is only justified near consumption markets (such as Buenos Aires) to avoid transport costs and reduce the carbon footprint. Installing a RAS plant in Tierra del Fuego, where consumption is insignificant, would not be logically profitable compared to the option of replacing imports that hover around US$ 50 million per year.

First RAS plant 2020 in Switzerland, Swiss Alpine Fish, producing Atlantic salmon from pure Alpine water. Photo: Veolia Water Technologies.

• Semi-Closed or Closed Sea Cages: Already operational in Norway and Japan. These are an intermediate solution in terms of cost that mitigates the problems of open cages and is economically attractive.

Semi-closed fish cages offer higher biosecurity and water quality through deep water intakes and physical barriers. Photo: Seafarming Systems/VisCo and Remora Robotics.

• Integrated Multi-Trophic Systems (IMTA): A fourth option already successfully working in other countries with environmentalist support. It consists of open cages that are part of a controlled ecosystem where different species utilize the waste from others.

This diagram of an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture operation illustrates a combination of trophic levels sharing the environment and taking advantage of available organic and inorganic nutrients. (Source: Global Aquaculture Advocate)                                      

IMTA sites in Canada incorporate rows of salmon cages, mussel rafts, and seaweed rafts. (Source: Global Aquaculture Advocate) 

The Mirage of Value Added

There is a point that politicians and officials often overlook: the real cost-benefit ratio. In Tierra del Fuego, there is no specialized balanced feed plant for salmon. Will it be imported from Chile? Will the fish be imported after completing their initial freshwater phase so that only the marine fattening phase takes place in Argentina?

Photo: GSI - Global Salmon Initiative

This last option is likely, as in Chile, no more marine licenses are being granted because the sustainable limits of the environment have been reached or exceeded. If Fuegian licenses end up in the hands of large Chilean producers who bring their own eggs and their own feed, the only value added in Argentina will be labor, which represents only 10% of the production cost. The rest will be the use of water and licenses.

The Shadow of Controls and "Copy-Paste" Studies

Some politicians argue that the new Law 1355 "incorporates sufficient environmental safeguards." In theory, this might be correct, but if we consider the experiences with the Fisheries Law—marked by lack of control and "arranged" approvals of licenses—it should not surprise us if the same happens with aquaculture in Tierra del Fuego.

Environmental Impact Study prepared by Serman & Asoc. for Shell Argentina -->

It is assumed that any project must be accompanied by Environmental Impact Studies (EIS) as if this were a "guarantee" of harmony with nature. This theory crashes against reality: for example, the offshore oil projects presented a few years ago were accompanied by EIS where consultancies like Serman & Asociados (working for YPF, Equinor, and Shell) simply did a "copy-paste" of experiences from other countries. They hid negative aspects and never performed actual field studies on Argentine species.

If the salmon activity follows the patterns usually used in Argentina instead of those used in Norway, Japan, Canada, or Scotland, there will be no real safeguard. Tierra del Fuego and Argentina have a beautiful opportunity ahead, but a great challenge: TO DO THINGS RIGHT.

Author:

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1. The Law of Polarity, a hermetic principle, postulates that everything has two extremes or opposites (like up/down, light/darkness, love/hate), which are actually manifestations of the same "something" in different degrees; it teaches us that opposites are complementary, define each other, and we can change our experience from one to the other by transforming our perspective, moving from the negative to the positive, and finding balance by embracing both facets of reality.

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