70 broodstock traveled via cold chain from the Huellelhue River estuary to Ancud. With them, a community seeks to restore a key species for both its economy and its ecosystem.
The Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP) has joined the giant mussel (Choromytilus chorus) repopulation plan currently being carried out by the Huellelhue community, in collaboration with the NGO Sustainable Fishing Center and the Mehuín Fisheries Polytechnic High School. Through its Mariculture Experimental Center in Hueihue, Ancud, the institute received 70 broodstock transported via cold chain from the estuary, which are now being conditioned for fattening and spawning.
“We were all pleasantly surprised to be chosen to support this repopulation. The broodstock have arrived, they are being conditioned, and everything is moving forward at full speed,” says Carla Álvarez, an assistant technician at the IFOP center. For her, working with this species is a new challenge: “We hadn’t worked with giant mussels before. It’s a first for us, but we understand it isn’t as complicated as other species, and we expect to have seeds soon.”
In Mehuín, the process also started from scratch. The high school has a hatchery where seeds are developed; although the first spawning attempt in September was unsuccessful, it was successful in December. “We didn’t see anything at first, but in the first half of January, the seeds started to appear. Now we have them in the laboratory, in two 2,600-liter tanks, where we are controlling temperature, pH, and salinity. This had never been done here, so we are very happy,” says Fabiola Chomalí, production manager at the educational institution.
For the high school, the project goes beyond just the species itself. Four interns are leading the process under Chomalí’s supervision, making decisions and developing skills they previously lacked. “We are very far from where the major decisions are made, tucked away in a coastal town. This project gives us visibility and proves that our institution is active, applying for projects, and becoming more attractive to future students,” she explains. In March, two of the interns will travel to Hueihue to observe the experimental center’s work in the field.
IFOP’s inclusion not only adds technical capacity; José Valencia, Marine Coordinator of the GEF ICB project, explains that the institute participates in both the Los Lagos Regional Technical Committee—where public services are represented—and the public-private roundtable created for the management of the giant mussel. The next step is to involve the Regional Government of Los Lagos so that initiatives like this are also viewed as opportunities for employment and income generation for local communities.
The GEF Project is executed by the Ministry of the Environment and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Its objective is to improve national financing for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services through the design, implementation, and optimization of economic instruments that strengthen public finances and incentivize the private sector’s economic contribution to the maintenance and recovery of ecosystems.
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