Evolving blue development discourses and policies: Salmon farming industry and regional making in Chile

As the second biggest producer of salmon after Norway, Chile is one of the leading forces of aquaculture with a long history of being strongly focused on international markets. Based on contributions from critical geography, political ecology and the sociology of globalization, the article analyses the dominant narratives and policies deployed by the Chilean government and the salmon farming industry in successive contexts of boom and crisis of production activity in the archipelago of Chiloé (Los Lagos Region). In a context of a word-wide growing interest in the capabilities of the blue economy, a discourse analysis of governmental, industrial, and public-private institutional documents, together with semi-structured interviews to a broad number of stakeholders contributes to advance the understanding of and learn from the evolution and challenges faced by one the longest world's salmon aquaculture leaders. The research identifies five discursive and policies phases over more than four decades of development. From an initial narrative that defines the region as “empty” and uses the discourse on salmon farming to justify territorial integration policies (1973–1982); to a second period in which the fostering of the salmon farming in the southern region served as a catalyst of national economic growth interests (1983–1994). It follows a boom phase characterized by the capitalization on the blue revolution discourse (1995–2006), which lasted until the territorial crisis resulting from the ISA virus, and the expansion of the industry towards southern regions (2007–2015). The analysis reveals a fifth phase starting in 2016 and ongoing by 2023, which characterized by the emergency and implementation of a new administrative right over coastal-marine areas to safeguard the traditional uses of indigenous communities, starts to challenge the long-standing hegemony of the salmon farming industry in Chile.