Jonathan R. Barton

Environment, sustainability and regulation in commercial aquaculture: The case of Chilean salmonid production

Abstract Chilean salmon aquaculture has exhibited dynamic growth since its introduction on a commercial scale in the early 1980s (IFOP, 1994). The indicators of growth show no immediate signs of abating, despite lower prices, and Chilean production now ranks second only to Norway in international production. The industrys efficiency and profitability depends primarily on two factors: optimal food utilisation to achieve a maximal rate of growth at a minimum cost and the control of mortality in the farmed fish population. The management of these factors has direct and indirect effects on the fresh water and marine environments of production sites. Many of these effects can be linked to the contamination of aquatic environments. The regulation of the industry to control these effects will determine its sustainability. This paper argues two points. The first point is that responsibility for the monitoring and regulation of the salmon aquaculture industry should lie with the state, especially in terms of environmental quality. The second point is the need to establish the degree to which intensive salmon aquaculture in Chile is sustainable at its current rate of expansion. In both cases, it is stressed that state regulation should be broader and more efficient than at present if the industry is to have a more sustainable future.

State Continuismo and Pinochetismo: The Keys to the Chilean Transition

There have been two parallel processes in Chilean political economy during the 1990s. A high profile has been accorded to the transition from authoritarianism to democracy and its related debates. A relatively low profile has been accorded to the continuity in the state model of capitalism that was implemented under authoritarianism. This paper argues that transition can be best understood in terms of the role of Augusto Pinochet and his strategies for maintaining power – Pinochetismo. As such, his forced retirement from political life marks the end of transition. The second point is perhaps of more importance however. The democratic political regime has intensified the model of capitalist accumulation of the 1970s and 1980s and socio-economic polarisation has been perpetuated. While the focus on the nature of transition during the 1990s was necessary, there has been a failure to question the social relations established by capitalism. With the end of transition in July 2001, the greatest challenge for Chilean democracy now lies in creating a state based on social relations that serves the needs of the majority rather than the desires of the few.

Sustentabilidad urbana como planificación estratégica

From its origins in the Brundtland report, sustainable development was projected as an activity that was best generated and most appropriate at the local sc...

Salmon aquaculture and Chile's ‘export–led’ economy

Export orientation policy and regional development The model of export–oriented production (de–sarrollo hacia afurera), intiated in Chile from 1975 under the economic orientation of the ‘Chicago Boys’ (neoliberal economists trained at the University of Chicago), has provided the ongoing framework for the Chilean political economy during the 1990s, despite the ‘hiccup’ during the international recession of 1980–1983 (Toledo & Zapater 1991, de Mattos 1992). The transition from authoritarianism to democracy,which began in 1988, has resulted in significant changes in the political makeup of the country; however, export orientation has prevailed as a condition of General Pinochets retreat from poner and as the chosen of the democratic Concertacion administrations.

Climate Change Adaptive Capacity in Santiago de Chile: Creating a Governance Regime for Sustainability Planning

For most urban areas, the challenges of adaptation are as urgent as those of mitigation. This is particularly the case where adaptive capacity is weak, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and the benefits of global mitigation in the short term will be experienced beyond 2050. A focus on adaptive capacity-building in these vulnerable settings is imperative. Much of the emphasis in climate change since the early 1990s has been on basic science and how public policy should respond to it; less attention has been paid to the governance implications and connections with wider development processes. This article explores the governance challenges of adaptation in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It points to weaknesses in the water and energy sectors, which have highly sectoral, horizontally unintegrated institutional structures and instruments that pose significant challenges for adaptation. Such cases point to the need to engage with both the wider planning concerns of existing development strategies and the basic elements of transdisciplinarity, finance and human capital-building, in order to forge a more integrated adaptation response. Without an engagement with the governance issue and wider debates around metropolitan planning and socioeconomic development, it is unlikely the response will move beyond a limited physical infrastructure investment programme.

Adaptación al cambio climático en la planificación de ciudades-regiones

RESUMEN El rol de las ciudades en el cambio climatico, en terminos de mitigacion de emisiones, transacciones de creditos de carbono y adaptacion a los impactos locales y regionales, es un tema de creciente interes y preocupacion. La documentacion del Panel Intergubernamental de Cambio Climatico (IPCC), iniciativas como los instrumentos de Kioto (como el Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio y el Fondo de Carbono del Banco Mundial) y los riesgos generados y enfrentados por ciudades (a la luz de la experiencia de Nueva Orleans, por ejemplo), enfatizan la necesidad de ponerlas en el centro de la discusion del cambio climatico. Este articulo utiliza estas fuentes y otras en la construccion de las indicaciones necesarias para la incorporacion de consideraciones de cambio climatico dentro de la planificacion estrategica en particular. Ademas, se propone la manera mas apropiada de incorporar estas consideraciones en el pensamiento urbano y regional de quienes toman las decisiones y en sus herramientas. Las lecciones para el caso de Santiago de Chile, como ciudad-region sin un plan de adaptacion, son presentadas en las conclusiones. Palabras clave: Cambio climatico, adaptacion, planificacion estrategica, ciudades-regiones.

Collaborative governance and the challenges of participatory climate change adaptation planning in Santiago de Chile

This article focuses on collaborative governance and the challenge of participatory processes in order to form integrated adaptation responses to climate change. The case of Santiago de Chile, where the creation of a Regional Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Metropolitan Region was undertaken in collaboration with the Regional Government and the Regional Ministerial Secretariat of the Environment, provides the experience of such a participatory process being part of a larger inter- and transdisciplinary project. The article highlights the complexities involved in this process and knowledge transfer in the context of collaborative governance. The principal challenges identified are: to ‘make the case’ with respect to climate change adaptation planning; to be able to communicate scientific data effectively and to be clear about methodologies and uncertainties; and to ensure an integrated, coordinated response rather than sectoral fragmentation. The paper concludes that despite the complexities involved, participatory planning processes are preferable for urban climate change adaptation, as such processes are more legitimate and generate the social capacity building and inter-sectoral cooperation needed in the context of the current governance models in large Latin American cities, as exemplified by the case of Santiago.

Global economic imperatives, crisis generation and local spaces of engagement in the Chilean aquaculture industry

The authors use the 2007 ISA virus outbreak in Chilean salmon aquaculture, coupled with insights from post-structural political ecology, as an opportunity to examine the institutional architecture and discursive hegemony of particular production strategies that silenced local experiences with the industry in favour of continuing exploitation. The authors argue that the case makes visible some of the generally relevant processes in which the generation of the crisis takes place within governance structures that involve few spaces of engagement for local actors to influence and participate in decision-making. Municipalities have few opportunities to shape the development of an industry with significant socio-economic impacts on their jurisdictions. Finally, the authors show how the crisis opens spaces of engagement for local actors and argue that sustainable governance of aquaculture depends on such spaces through which critical perspectives and warning signs can be communicated and negotiated, and through which local entrepreneurs can enter the value chain.

Struggling against Decline: British Business in Chile, 1919-33*

British business in Latin America struggled throughout the inter-war period, affected by the First World War, aggressive US trade strategies and a dated British commercial support structure that had turned its attentions to imperial markets. Chamber of Commerce archive material reveals the frustrations of the British business community in Chile as hard-won markets were lost to well- supported US firms and returning German competition, as a consequence of weak political, financial and marketing support. Against a backdrop of British commercial decline worldwide, the Chilean case echoes the experiences of businessmen across Latin Americas non-imperial markets. As the British government dallied, US business established an unassailable position. Britains commercial decline The role of Britain in the international economy has weakened considerably during the twentieth century. Much of this weakening occurred as a result of the two world wars and the financial exigencies of waging them. However, the fact that the same logic does not hold true for Germany signals that the factors underlying Britains commercial decline during the inter-war and immediate post-war periods are more complex, and cannot be explained away by the wars. In accounting for this phenomenon, the organisation of British commerce and how it was orchestrated should be examined. The vast differences that existed in terms of trade with empire and trade with non-imperial markets should also be considered. It was not in the imperial markets that Britains commercial supremacy since the late nineteenth century was challenged, but rather in the more open markets beyond the empire, typified by the republics of Latin America. From the early years of the twentieth century, US and European governments and firms became embroiled in a competitive commercial war in these countries in order to exploit natural resources, develop infrastructure and supply manufactured products. In contrast to the imperial markets, where preferences and protectionist

'Flags of Convenience': Geoeconomics and Regulatory Minimisation

Geoeconomics is an increasingly powerful conditioning factor within the organisation of ‘the global’. Flags of Convenience (shipping registries) are highlighted as an example of this importance. Shipping companies have traditionally sought to take advantage of different regulatory conditions around the world by registering under a particular ‘flag’, selecting a sovereign state with regulations that suit the company in question. This situation establishes difficulties associated with the global regulation of merchant shipping. Geoeconomic developments during the second half of the twentieth century have resulted in international flexibility and the relative ease of transboundary movements of capital and products between firms and markets. This paper utilises the example of Flags of Convenience as one of the oldest examples of geoeconomic flexibility within the global geo-political economy, and one that exposes the complexities of increasing globalisation and regulation at the turn of the millennium.