In southern Chile, locals push to protect oceans that have been hurt by intensive salmon farming

MELINKA, Chile (AP) — Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco steers her small wooden boat while her partner, Paulo Vera Perez, dives into the cold ocean waters off the coast of southern Chile.

Within a few hours the couple, both in their mid-40s, has filled the boat with shellfish, sea urchins, mussels and crabs that Leviñanco will sell at the market in Melinka, the main island in the Guaitecas Archipelago.

Even a few years ago, such a haul would have been unthinkable.

“It seems incredible looking at it today, but for years the sea throughout this area was dead,” said Leviñanco. “There were no birds, fish or marine animals. A salmon-farming facility had destroyed everything.”

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EDITORS' NOTE: This story was supported by Journalismfund Europe.

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Made up of more than 40 small islands, the Guaitecas Archipelago is a gateway to Chile’s Patagonia region that is one of the world’s most remote places. Despite being a national reserve, it’s also home to numerous salmon farms that discharge hundreds of tons of chemicals and antibiotics into the sea every year.

At least 313 salmon farms were authorized in the archipelago, according to Terram, a Chilean foundation focused on sustainable development.

Leviñanco and Vera Perez say the intensive farming damaged where they fished, so they decided to try to counter that. They started bringing in healthy mussels and clams from other areas. Friends and family thought they were crazy, but over years the work paid off.

“The fish, birds and other marine animals came back,” said Leviñanco.

Chile is the world’s second-largest salmon producer after Norway, and the fish is the Latin American country’s second-most exported product, after copper. In 2025, over 1 million tonnes were produced in the country, according to Sernapesca.

Salmon is not native to Chilean waters. The fish was first imported from Norway in the 1970s and 1980s, during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

For years, intensive salmon farming in Chile has been criticized by scientists, environmental advocacy groups, fishers, Indigenous communities and local residents, who accuse the industry of polluting the sea because of the large quantities of chemicals used at the farms, failing to respect the rights of Indigenous communities and breaching workplace safety regulations. According to figures provided by the Chilean nonprofit Ecoceanos, 90 workers have died in the industry since 2013. Fatal accidents range from workers getting entangled while cleaning nets to shipwrecks among vessels in the area.

The Guaitecas Archipelago is the largest nature reserve in the country and one of the oldest, having been established in 1938, and has many endangered marine species.

Many locals and scientists say that salmon farms have severely damaged multiple marine areas, leaving parts of the seabed with oxygen levels so low that other forms of life struggle to survive. They describe these areas as “dead.” One such area is where Leviñanco has fished throughout her life and which she helped to restore.

“Intensive salmon farming can have various impacts on marine ecosystems. Pollution can result both from the accumulation of organic matter and from the use of chemicals,” said Catalina Sapag, a marine biologist and scientific area coordinator at the nonprofit Oceana in Chile.

Despite opposition, particularly in the south of the country, there is strong support for the salmon industry, as it generates many jobs.

SalmonChile, a trade association representing many farming companies, argues that the decline in fish stocks can’t be attributed just to salmon farming.

“It may be due to various factors, such as climate change, changes in water temperature, illegal fishing, overexploitation of resources and the introduction of non-native species for recreational fishing. The industry therefore represents only one of the factors at play,” the association said in a statement.

The United States accounts for 40% of Chile’s salmon exports ($2.6 billion), followed by Japan with 17% (just over $1 billion) and Brazil with 13% ($796 million), according to figures from SalmonChile.

Chilean fishers claim that pollution caused by salmon-farming facilities is significantly reducing the abundance of fish and shellfish in the sea. One of the most vocal figures to have raised these concerns lives in Melinka.

His name is Daniel Arturo Caniullan Huentel. He is 52 years old, has worked as a diver for 35 years and is an ancestral authority of the Indigenous Mapuche Pu Wapi community in Melinka.

“The seabed was teeming with life, with colors and animals everywhere. Today it is completely different,” said Caniullan Huentel. “The colors have faded, many species have disappeared and organisms that did not exist before have appeared. Every time a new salmon-farming facility was installed, we saw the impacts increase.”

The Mapuche community is pushing to protect the area’s waters under Ley Lafkenche, a law passed in 2008 that allows Indigenous communities to protect marine and coastal areas and manage them jointly with state institutions, provided they can demonstrate that their community carries out ancestral practices there.

The arrangement does not grant Indigenous peoples ownership of the sea or seabed, but protects the area’s ancestral uses, including fishing, shellfish and seaweed gathering, as well as access to sacred sites and areas used for navigation.

Once a community applies to manage an area, the state can no longer authorize new concessions — such as those for salmon-farming facilities — within it.

In 2017, the Chilean state rejected an application by Caniullan Huentel’s community for an additional 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres), and in 2024 it rejected another one that requested 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres). Last March, the community submitted an application for a further, smaller area of 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres), and they are now awaiting a response.

“This struggle is not just about us,” said Caniullan Huentel. “It is about the future of the sea, small-scale fishing and generations to come. If we do not defend these territories today, tomorrow we risk permanently losing an immense natural and cultural heritage.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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This story corrects the source for there being at least 313 salmon farms authorized in the archipelago. It is Terram, a Chilean foundation focused on sustainable development.

Fishing boats dock in the town of Melinka at dawn in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Artisanal fishers unload sea urchins at the Melinka Pier, Melinka, Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

A fisher shows a sea urchin they caught in Melinka, Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Artisanal fishermen unload sea urchins at the Melinka Pier in Melinka, Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Daniel Arturo Caniullan Huentel, leader of the Indigenous Mapuche Pu Wapi community and a shellfish fisher, sails near a salmon farm located close to a sea urchin nursery and fishing grounds in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Daniel Arturo Caniullan Huentel, leader of the Indigenous Mapuche Pu Wapi community and a shellfish fisher, pushes a boat into the water before rowing out to his fishing boat in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Artisanal fishing boats return to the town of Melinka after a day of fishing in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Boxes of Chilean salmon sit at a fish market in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

A salmon fillet is weighed at a market in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

A salmon farm is visible in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco and her partner, Paulo Vera Perez, sail through the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco prepares to dock a boat after a fishing trip for mussels in Repollal, in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa

Paulo Vera Perez prepares to dive into the sea in Repollal, in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Water surrounds an island in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco holds a crab she caught with Paulo Vera Perez in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco steps near mussels she harvested with Paulo Vera Perez in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco and her partner, Paulo Vera Perez, fish for mussels in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

Yesica Fabiana Leviñanco, left, and her partner, Paulo Vera Perez, prepare for a fishing journey in Repollal, in the Guaitecas Archipelago, Chile, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adriana Thomasa)

MIAMI (AP) — Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday, after he refused to concede to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva then fled the country.

In a circuitous journey, Bolsonaro left for Argentina on Tuesday with his wife and two daughters, then traveled to Ecuador, according to Argentina officials and flight data. The 45-year-old senator and his family arrived in Florida a day after the Trump administration granted them United States visas. Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, visited the White House in May.

Bolsonaro’s father, Jair Bolsonaro, also fled to Florida after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula before returning to Brazil three months later.

Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Court, accused of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. The court had ordered him to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday. It remained unclear whether he had complied, but allies said late Tuesday he also has an Italian passport.

Dressed casually in a dark polo shirt and flanked by his wife and two daughters, Bolsonaro stepped out of the plane shortly after it landed in Miami at around 9:30 a.m. EDT. Florida is home to the largest population of Brazilians in the U.S.

Bolsonaro, his wife Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro, and his daughters Carolina Figueira Bolsonaro and Luiza Figueira Bolsonaro fled Brazil on Tuesday. Argentina's migration authority said the family entered Argentina’s northeastern province of Misiones with valid travel documentation at 10:50 p.m. Tuesday via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge, a primary border checkpoint.

Within an hour, they boarded a private charter plane, the authority said.

Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed a plane fitting the description of Bolsonaro’s landed in Guayaquil at about 4 a.m. local time, then took off minutes later for Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport.

Before the family landed in Florida, Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, spoke to dozens of supporters outside the presidential residence in Brasilia.

“I regret that he left Brazil, because he could have stayed here and proven that the accusations are not true,” Lula said. “This act of leaving Brazil is shameful.”

Paulo Figueiredo, a close Bolsonaro ally who lives in the U.S., said in a short statement he couldn't confirm information from foreign authorities but that “Flávio Bolsonaro is well, in security and resting with his family.”

That Bolsonaro traveled via Argentina is almost certain to cause a diplomatic rift between Lula and Argentine President Javier Milei, another Trump ally who traveled to Brazil to take part in Bolsonaro’s campaign.

Representatives of Brazil's government didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Trump said early Wednesday that he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the U.S., calling him and his family “fine people.”

“The election was really strange, and I thought it was terrible,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, after campaigning in Texas on Tuesday. He did not elaborate but stressed he didn't endorse the election result.

Leaders all over the world and the Organization of American States have endorsed the result and congratulated Lula, who was reelected by a margin of about 4.4 million votes in the second and final round.

The defeated candidate was served with a Supreme Court order to surrender his Brazilian passports Monday. In a video, he said he received it outside the home where his father is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for his attempted coup following his 2022 election loss to Lula.

A Brazilian diplomat who was not authorized to speak about the matter publicly told The Associated Press that Bolsonaro used an Italian passport to enter Argentina and did not leave records in Brazilian check points, as they are not required to exit.

The diplomat said Brazil’s federal police were not monitoring Bolsonaro when he left his home in Brasilia because the Supreme Court has not issued a warrant for his arrest.

Flávio Bolsonaro said in a video Monday that he was attempting to organize opposition to the election results among his congressional colleagues. His eight-year term as a senator expires Jan. 31, 2027.

Brazil's Supreme Court is investigating Bolsonaro for allegedly using a sports betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from government pensions paid to senior citizens. In a separate case, he is accused of accepting millions of dollars from a disgraced banker.

Mauricio Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Flávio Bolsonaro arrives at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Opa-locka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Flávio Bolsonaro arrives at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Opa-locka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Flávio Bolsonaro arrives at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Opa-locka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Flávio Bolsonaro arrives at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Opa-locka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro speaks after the presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)