Photo: UCN Instagram

UCN and Corfo launch an innovative technological program to revitalize Japanese Oyster cultivation in Chile

CHILE
Friday, August 09, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

With this initiative of the UCN and Corfo, our country moves towards the sustainability and diversification of its aquaculture industry, strengthening local communities in eight regions and the national economy.

The Universidad Católica del Norte UCN, with the support of Corfo, has launched an ambitious Technological Program (PTEC) called “Sustainable Development and Scaling of the Cultivation of the Japanese Oyster Resource.” This initiative, which will cover eight regions of the country, aims to consolidate sustainable development and productive and commercial scaling in the aquaculture activity of the Japanese Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) resource, contributing to the diversification of the national aquaculture production matrix.

Photo: Noticias.ucn.cl

The program includes a portfolio of five projects that will seek, among other goals, to produce Japanese oyster larvae and seeds of standardized quality, coming from different hatcheries located in the north and south of Chile, as well as to carry out effective technology transfer to the production of seeds and cultivation of Japanese oyster in Small Scale Aquaculture Farms (APES), in Areas of Management and Exploitation of Benthic Resources (AMERBS) and mollusk cultivation companies, for scaling and massification.

Dr. Rodrigo Rojas Araya Director of the PTEC and academic of the Department of Aquaculture of the Faculty of Marine Sciences of the UCN highlighted that the project would include the transfer of seeds in various areas of the country, a diagnosis of all places where there could potentially be health or heavy metal hazards, training, and technological surveillance. “We seek to rescue existing technologies and adapt them locally to promote the sustainable cultivation of the Japanese Oyster,” he indicated.

Contribute to productive development

The program will also develop a national and international marketing strategy to establish a robust resource industry. Co-execution with various organizations will ensure a supply of Japanese Oyster seeds and promote productive development.

Macarena Aljaro Inostroza, Director of Programs and Technological Consortiums at Corfo, stressed the importance of diversifying the aquaculture industry, highlighting its potential and its ability to face global challenges such as sustainability and climate change, as well as being a fundamental source of quality protein... “This program seeks to promote the diversification of an industry that today contributes to the national economy, but that also has tremendous potential, knowing the global challenges that exist today from the point of view of sustainability, climate change, management water, therefore aquaculture becomes a protagonist also from the provision of a protein, from the provision of an industry that could have a degree of sustainability of practically one hundred percent.”

During the launch event at the UCN Guayacán Campus in Coquimbo, Pía Castillo Bosselaar, Seremi of Economy, Development and Tourism of the Coquimbo Region, highlighted the investment of 3.4 billion pesos by Corfo and the importance of collaboration with the academy to economically reactivate the aquaculture sector. She also highlighted the leadership of women in the region. “Particularly in the Coquimbo Region, this sector that has historically been inhabited by men is now also led by women who converted from artisanal fishing to aquaculture. This allows us to believe and think that when there are these job reconversions in the world of fishing with innovation, with support from academia, with support from institutions like Corfo, what happened for example a few years ago with the oyster happens.”

She also highlighted that some results are already being seen in the cultivation of the Japanese Oyster, "together with the AG of Tongoy and the Women's Cooperative that is in the same town," she pointed out.

Photo: Noticias.ucn.cl

The initiative will identify potential cultivation areas from a health point of view, carry out effective technology transfer, develop a business strategy for the commercialization of larvae and seeds, and form the human capital necessary for the cultivation and sustainable scaling of the resource.

Beneficiaries

Devora García, representative of the Tongoy Mujeres Acuipesca Cooperative commented on her experience and expectations. “We have been in aquaculture for more than 20 years and have been working with the Japanese Oyster since 2019, we have vast experience. We are five women, but more than five women we are five aquaculturists who want the Japanese oyster to have this relevance. Today is a milestone as small-scale aquaculture companies that this program focused on the future of the oyster is carried out."

Photo: Noticias.ucn.cl

David Espinoza, representative of small-scale aquaculturists in the Atacama Region, expressed his optimism. “We have high expectations and are willing to move forward with the program that promises to improve the quality and quantity of oyster seeds.”

Link with the aquaculture environment

The PTEC has executors such as the Chinquihue Foundation, the AquaPacífico Aquaculture Innovation Center, the marine farming company Nanaku, and partners such as Minera Los Pelambres. In addition, 24 interested parties, mainly from the Coquimbo Region, are directly linked to coastal communities and associations.

Dr. Wolfgang Stotz, Research Secretary of the UCN Coquimbo Campus, stated, "This initiative links the university with all actors in the sector, updates our training programs, and makes them relevant to the country's needs for its development.”

“An instance like this represents very well the vision of the university, and links us with all the actors in an area around this development, which is our main task as a university, to work on solutions to the problems that the country has to solve to its development,” he stated.

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