With the sad record of 83 deaths in 12 years, the reality of salmon workers in Chile involves severe bone diseases that affect hundreds of people.
The agency ElRompeHielos recently published an interview with Daniel Casado, a filmmaker who investigates the case of salmon farm workers in the neighboring country. In it, he reflected on the situation Casado experienced and what he documented in audiovisual material.
The drama of Chilean salmon workers, documented
Casado is a documentary filmmaker and environmental photographer, but above all, he is a man who witnessed firsthand how a marine paradise can turn into a damaged territory. He documented garbage on once pristine coasts, toxic foams, and industrial waste floating in the sea.
His story begins in the Huaytecas archipelago, south of Chile, where he spent seven summers working on a tourism project on an uninhabited island. There, surrounded by fjords, Chilean dolphins, and whales, he forged a deep connection with the sea.
Salmon Industry and Environmental and Human Impact.
“It was the closest thing to Avatar that I can imagine. We moved around in kayaks and went trekking,” he recalls. But that pristine landscape soon shattered. “I have witnessed all the changes firsthand. I have not read or been told about the consequences of salmon farms. I have seen it with my own eyes,” he explains.
In 2007, the Chilean salmon industry experienced its first major crisis: mass layoffs, idle vessels, and visible ecological damage.
At that time, Casado was just beginning to learn about the effects of salmon farming, but when one of these companies set up on Isla Jéchica —a supposedly protected area— he realized that he was facing more than just any industry. “We did everything to stop its installation, but they proceeded anyway. I realized that it was an industry that does as it pleases. Once the salmon farm is established, there is no turning back.”
“What happens to people?” Consequences of the salmon industry
Daniel Casado has several documentaries on the subject, but nowadays he is working on another aspect involving the industry but that is not always so visible: “the focus is always on the environmental impact of salmon farming, but after all these years, I wanted to ask myself: what happens to people?”.
“Because ultimately, it is an industry that promises development, but what it leaves behind is poverty, destroyed ecosystems, and traditional ways of life wiped out,” he points out.
In his quest to find out what happens to people, he is conducting a photo report and an investigation into divers and their work on the large farms.
“The working conditions of people in this industry in general are very poor, they have very long shifts, they live in isolated places literally within the fattening centers, and I started to find out that there are a large number of divers suffering from a disease called decompression osteonecrosis,” he says.
“It is caused by poor diving practices, where they are demanded to work for much longer periods, at much greater depths than they are authorized for longer times, and the truth is that there is no authority that can control this,” he explains.
According to a report from Ladera Sur, this degenerative bone disease “slowly spreads, destroying bone tissue, causing severe and sharp pains, and can leave them completely disabled”.
Casado delved into the subject to conduct the investigation: “After going past 20 meters, you have to start looking at the decompression tables, staying at a certain depth for a specified amount of time, so that your body can decompress. There are many, many sick people in Chile,” he states.
“I’m talking about hundreds. These are people affected by decompression osteonecrosis, which mainly attacks the hip and shoulders, and, when the disease is detected, there is no possible solution other than joint replacement. In Chile, as you can imagine, access to a hip or shoulder transplant is very low,” Casado denounces.
How they work
Salmon divers at work. (Photo: Daniel Casado).
At a marine farm, divers have various tasks, including repairing sea lion nets (nets used to prevent sea lions from entering), general repairs on cage rafts, removal of mortality, among others.
Following Casado’s account, in Chile, salmon farms “subcontract companies that provide diving services. That is to say, they are not responsible for the workers’ schedules, but they do ask them to complete a job within a set time.
To achieve this, they have to dive for more hours than what is appropriate and at depths greater than they are authorized to dive. The vast majority are artisanal divers who can go down to 20 meters, and reports indicate that they dive to 30 meters or even more and for quite extended periods, which causes this degenerative disease to develop”.
“It’s very tough because they are lifelong divers and suddenly find themselves unable to dive anymore, and they are given miserable pensions, and they are not even given the test that detects this disease in time. The panorama is truly distressing, and the industries wash their hands because they subcontract to other companies.”
Deaths: the worst outcome
On the other hand, Chile leads the sad record of diver deaths worldwide. According to a recent publication by El Ciudadano, with the
