内容摘要：Some 86,000 people now work directly or indirectly for Chile's farmed salmon industry, according to trade body Salmón Chile. The farms stretch from the Biobío region, which is around 500km south of Santiago, right down to the Magallanes region in the far Patagonian south of the country, and more than 2,000km away from the capital.

Some 86,000 people now work directly or indirectly for Chile's farmed salmon industry, according to trade body Salmón Chile. The farms stretch from the Biobío region, which is around 500km south of Santiago, right down to the Magallanes region in the far Patagonian south of the country, and more than 2,000km away from the capital.

This was worth $6.4bn (£4.8bn), making it Chile's third-biggest export after copper in first place and fresh fruit. It also means that Chile's salmon exports are only surpassed by Norway's.Some 86,000 people now work directly or indirectly for Chile's farmed salmon industry, according to trade body Salmón Chile. The farms stretch from the Biobío region, which is around 500km south of Santiago, right down to the Magallanes region in the far Patagonian south of the country, and more than 2,000km away from the capital.

With global demand for farmed salmon due toby 2033, according to one report, Chilean producers are keen to increase their production. However, it actually fell slightly last year.Salmón Chile's chairman, Arturo Clements, says the government needs to do more to help the industry expand.

"For us it's been very difficult to grow, because we have too many regulations, and we have too many conflicts regarding the use of the sea," he says. "What we need is to define a long-term strategy regarding salmon farming."Much of the conflict concerns the locations of many of the fish farms, which critics say are highly polluting.

More specifically, there are 408 salmon farming concessions – licenses granted by the government that allow a company to operate a salmon farm in a specific area – within supposedly environmentally protected areas in Chile.

These include 294 in national reserves, where limited commercial use of natural resourcesnewsletter. Readers in the UK can

. Those outside the UK canChile is the world's second-largest exporter of farmed salmon, and the biggest supplier to the US. In the south of the country a dispute continues over the large number of salmon farms that are located in supposedly protected areas.

The port city of Puerto Montt, more than 1,000km (600 miles) south of Chile's capital Santiago, is at the heart of the country's farmed Atlantic salmon industry.At a processing facility on the outskirts of town workers kitted out in white suits, hairnets, facemasks, and blue plastic gloves and boots prepare fresh and smoked salmon for export to the US and Japan.