Farmed species

When people talk about Chilean aquaculture, the first image that comes to mind is probably salmon. There are good reasons for that: salmonids account for much of the country's production and are the best-known Chilean aquaculture activity abroad.

However, the country's aquaculture also includes the farming of choritos (mussels), macroalgae, scallops, oysters and other species, in both marine and inland waters.

This diversity has given rise to different production activities, including:

• salmon farming;
• mussel farming;
• macroalgae farming;
• oyster farming;
• scallop farming;
• and research and diversification programs for new species.

Salmonids: the main production group

Salmonid farming is the main focus of Chilean aquaculture.

Chile farms three main species:

• Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
• Coho, or Pacific, salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
• Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Of these, Atlantic salmon is the dominant species.

According to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector Report from the Undersecretariat for Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA), December 2025 edition, Atlantic salmon accounted for 54.3% of all aquaculture harvests in the country that year.

Coho salmon accounted for 18.7% and rainbow trout for 3.3%, with trout showing a steady decline in recent years.

Together, these figures show how much weight salmonids carry in Chilean aquaculture.

Chorito, or Chilean mussel

Outside salmonids, one of the most important crops is the chorito, or Chilean mussel (Mytilus chilensis).

Its production is concentrated in the Los Lagos Region, where a large mussel farming industry has developed.

The growth of this activity has placed Chile among the leading international players in the sector: today the country is cited as the world's second-largest mussel producer.

Mussel farming works differently from salmon farming. Mussels are filter feeders: they take their food naturally from the water, mainly phytoplankton and organic matter present in the environment.

This means they do not need formulated feed, an important difference from finfish farming.

Macroalgae: another part of Chilean aquaculture

Seaweed is also part of Chile's aquaculture production.

It includes pelillo, along with other macroalgae that have been farmed commercially or studied in research and development programs.

Although seaweed currently makes up a small share of total aquaculture harvest volume (0.7% in 2025), its farming matters for production diversification and for the development of coastal economies.

Macroalgae farming has also been seen as a way to reduce pressure on natural seaweed beds and widen production opportunities linked to artisanal fishing.

Scallops

The northern scallop is another species in Chilean aquaculture.

It is farmed mainly in the north of the country, where environmental conditions support a different kind of aquaculture from the one that prevails in the southern regions.

So while salmon and mussels define much of the south's production, scallops are part of the aquaculture identity of the northern regions.

Oysters

Chile also farms oysters, including the Pacific oyster and the Chilean oyster.

Oyster farming is part of the country's range of shellfish crops and uses conditions and production systems different from those used for salmon, mussels or scallops.

Although its scale is smaller than that of the main production groups, it helps show an important feature of aquaculture: there is no single way to farm aquatic organisms. Each species needs its own conditions, technologies and know-how.

A concentrated mix with room to diversify

Chilean aquaculture production remains concentrated in salmon farming, mussel farming and other established crops. Even so, the country's natural conditions have driven a decades-long search for new species that could be farmed.

The studies compiled in the source work have identified about 60 species with farming potential in Chile. Bringing a new species to commercial scale is slow, though: international experience shows it can take about 10 years of research and development, plus the building of specialized capabilities.

That is why diversifying aquaculture involves much more than showing that a species can reproduce or grow in captivity. Technology, animal health, regulation, production and market questions also have to be solved.