30 JUNE 2025 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG farming, which optimizes the use of sea surface available in each aquaculture concession. Additionally, the introduction of specialized equipment for seed loading and harvesting has increased efficiency in processes that were initially done manually. Downstream processing for food has also been improved over the years, with the implementation of processing and packaging (canning) facilities and with high quality standards, enabling Chilean producers to comply with the requirements for exportation to European and North American markets. Despite these advances, the industry faces several challenges. For example, the strong dependency between mussel farming and the environment (seed availability and food supply) is well known, however no management or monitoring plan has been yet implemented. A better understanding of the biological and oceanographic conditions that influence natural seed bed productivities is crucial to ensure a stable supply of juvenile mussels and the long-term sustainability of the industry. However, it is also important to consider the redundancy in the collected seed and inefficiency in its management, this means that seed collectors capture too many seeds and because of this high density, many of them are finally detached and lost. A shortage of food supply for mussels during fattening (phytoplankton and particulate matter in general) appears to be one of the constraints on the growth of this activity in Los Lagos. The envisaged effects of climate change in southern Chile suggest that mussel farming will need to adapt to new environmental conditions in order to persist (Soto et al. 2020). Additionally, progress must be made in relation to waste management, particularly byproducts from processing plants. On a commercial level, continued efforts are needed to promote and open new international markets while strengthening the national demand. Seaweed Farming Over 800 species of macroalgae inhabit the Chilean coast, of which approximately 25 have been historically used for various human purposes. Seaweed utilization dates back 14,000 years as reported for Monteverde (Los Lagos region), the oldest known human settlement in South America. The uses given to the seaweed varied across time, including food and medicinal purposes, staple protein substitutes in the diets of lower-income Chileans and also - albeit to a lesser extent - for livestock feed and soil fertilization. Today, seaweed is gaining popularity in gourmet cuisine and the FIGURE 7. Cultivation systems of the top 2 most produced seaweeds in Chile, Gracilaria chilensis (top left, top right) and Macrocystis pyrifera (bottom left, bottom right): a) off-bottom system; b) long-line system; c) free floating system in 50L acrylic cylinders; d) long line system. Image courtesy David Patiño, UACh.
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