Chilean protests taking toll: salmon industry loses $80 million in one week

Protests over the Chilean salmon farming industry's alleged role in the return of a deadly algae bloom are intensifying, and spreading to regions beyond where they first began, wracking up further losses for the sector.

The protests, which fishermen started last week on the island of Chiloe (located in Chile’s Region X) , have so far cost the sector $80 million (€70.2 million), Felipe Manterola, SalmonChile’s general director told IntraFish.

The effects of the protests were especially devastating in one of the most important times of the year for Chilean salmon exporters to the United States -- Mother’s day weekend, a traditionally high time for salmon sales.

“The