During a session of the Senate Committee on Maritime Affairs, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, the General Manager of Pesquera Landes, Andrés Fosk Belan, presented the potential impacts of the proposed regulations on the Biobío region, warning of severe consequences for regional employment if implemented.
In the context of discussions around the Fisheries Quota Allocation Bill, Fosk highlighted the negative effects that, in his view, the proposal would have on the industry and local communities.
“Do we want to destroy jobs for the sake of destroying them? If the number of companies in the central-southern region drops from seven to four, with an average of 800 to 1,000 employees per company, we would lose between 2,400 and 3,000 direct jobs. Of these, 50% are held by women who are heads of households. We need to find alternatives,” he stated.
The executive acknowledged that laws can and should be improved over time but warned that this particular bill would put companies like Landes in an unsustainable position.
“This bill puts us in a terminal situation. There are many aspects to improve, but as currently proposed, this regulation poses serious risks to the viability of companies like ours,” he stressed.
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Fosk also voiced concern about the likely market concentration that could result from the auctioning of fishing quotas, a mechanism included in the bill. He noted that this process would particularly affect smaller companies like Landes.
“For Landes, as one of the smaller companies in the jack mackerel sector, every scenario we have evaluated—whether we secure a quota or not—leads to our operation becoming unviable,” he explained.
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The General Manager concluded by calling for a thorough analysis of the bill’s implications and urged lawmakers to seek solutions that benefit both the fishing industry and the nation as a whole.
“Please, let us review and study the real effects of this bill to create legislation that Chile deserves. We are a significant industry, especially in a region as hard-hit as Biobío,” he emphasized.
Currently, Landes provides quality jobs to 861 people, 33.8% of whom are women, most of them heads of households working in the company’s processing plants.
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