Chile’s Salmon Boom Carries a Deadly Cost for Its Divers
CHILE · ECONOMY
Key Facts
—A top export: Salmon was Chile’s second-largest export in 2025, at about US$6.5 billion, behind only copper.
—World’s second producer: Chile supplies roughly a third of global farmed salmon, behind Norway.
—The human cost: A monitoring group counts about 90 worker deaths tied to the industry over roughly 12 years.
—New law, no rules yet: A 2025 law regulates dive work for the first time but still lacks its implementing regulation.
—Latin American impact: A test of whether a flagship regional export can pair record sales with safer working conditions.
Chile’s salmon industry is posting record export figures, but a steady toll of deaths among the divers and workers who sustain it has renewed scrutiny of safety in one of the country’s most valuable sectors.
How big the salmon industry has become
Salmon and trout exports reached about US$6.5 billion in 2025, according to figures from the central bank cited by the sector’s trade association. That made salmon Chile’s second-largest export product, behind copper, and its single most valuable non-mineral export.
The result marked a third straight year of growth, close to the record set in 2022. Chile is the world’s second-largest producer of farmed salmon, supplying roughly a third of global output, behind Norway.
The industry is concentrated, with a handful of companies accounting for half of exports, and centered in the southern regions of Los Lagos, Aysen and Magallanes. The United States is the leading market, taking a large share of the revenue.
The cost to divers and workers
Behind those figures is a dangerous job. Divers descend to work at the fish-farming pens, often in cold, open water and difficult conditions, and the work has proved deadly with troubling regularity.
The monitoring group Ecoceanos counts about 90 worker deaths linked to the industry over roughly the past twelve years. Seven workers died in January 2026 alone, the group says, a toll that drew national attention and reached Congress.
Maritime authority records point to scores of diving accidents at the farms over the past two decades, a share of them fatal. Labor and environmental groups link the pattern to subcontracting, weak oversight and the pressure of rising harvests.
A new law that is not yet in force
In December 2025, Congress approved a law that, for the first time, creates a specific labor framework for professional divers working at fish farms. It sets safety obligations for companies, including dive logs, limits on time underwater and emergency protocols.
The measure also assigns responsibility to the main companies that contract diving services, requiring them to oversee the work. Reporting has pointed to a target for the rules to take effect around the middle of 2026.
For now, the law lacks the implementing regulation that would define working hours, rest and safety procedures in detail. Until that is published, much of the change it promises remains on paper.
Why it matters for the region
The tension is one many resource-rich economies share. A booming export can deliver foreign earnings and jobs while leaving the workers at its base exposed to serious risk.
For Chile, the question is whether record sales can be matched by safer conditions, and whether the new rules will be enforced once they arrive. The answer will shape how the industry is judged at home and abroad.
Other countries in the region weighing large-scale aquaculture are watching closely. Chile’s experience is being cited in debates over whether to expand similar farming elsewhere in Patagonia and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions
How important is salmon to Chile’s economy?
It is the country’s second-largest export, worth about US$6.5 billion in 2025 and its most valuable non-mineral export. Chile is the world’s second-largest producer of farmed salmon, behind Norway.
How many workers have died?
The monitoring group Ecoceanos counts about 90 deaths linked to the industry over roughly twelve years, including seven in January 2026. Maritime records also document many diving accidents, some of them fatal.
Why is the work so dangerous?
Divers work in cold, open water under pressure, where decompression risks are serious. Labor and environmental groups link the deaths to subcontracting, weak oversight and the demands of rising harvests.
What does the new law do?
Passed in December 2025, it creates a specific labor framework for divers at fish farms, with safety obligations such as dive logs, time limits and emergency protocols. It still lacks the regulation needed to apply it.
When will the rules take effect?
Reporting has pointed to a target around the middle of 2026, but the implementing regulation has not yet been published, so the timing is not settled.
Connected Coverage
For more on the region’s export economies, see our coverage of Brazil’s record trade surplus. For another Chilean story on the world stage, see our report on Chile’s navy at the RIMPAC exercise.
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