Actors and Interests in Dispute for the use of the Coastal Area in Los Lagos Region, Southern Chil

Abstract

The Los Lagos Region has a large coastal area composed of a territorial and inland sea. During the last decades the shoreline has been the subject of tension due to the pressure exerted by various actors seeking to install their productive activities. This work uses a qualitative methodological approach that involves the documentary analysis of legal bodies, with a series of semi-structured interviews, to analyze the role of salmon farmers, mussel farmers, artisanal fishermen, the Mapuche-Huilliche people, and the State in the transformation of the coastal area of the Los Lagos Region. From the perspective of political ecology and the normative structure of the concession system in the shoreline, it is possible to argue that the salmon farmers, mussel farmers, and artisanal fishermen produce a discourse focused on their economic contribution and the political-normative work, which allow them to have a high influence in mounting their productive activities oriented to the export of marine resources.