Long-term analysis of Chilean marine fisheries: potential role of climate changes and human management

The Chilean fisheries have a marked increase in the last three decades because economical directions that generate an increase of economic activities for increase the economical activities, that many decades ago were characterized by the dependence exclusive of copper mining. The aim of the present review is to do a long-term analysis of fisheries activities in Chile. As an overview, the fisheries have an increase the last three decades, with marked fluctuations in two periods, approximately, in 1991 and 1998 where have low captures due to the ENSO phenomenon, which is a surface temperature increase in the north of Chile that generates low species diversity and fisheries resources abundances. Also, in 1998, with ENSO phenomenon happened a marked over-extraction of pelagic industrial fisheries that collapsed the fisheries industry in the north of Chile (18-23°S). The fishery's resources are mainly pelagic and demersal fishes, and invertebrates such as mollusks and sea urchins, and the fisheries are mainly of marine origin. The aquaculture in Chile has a marked increase over the last three decades too, and the main activity is salmon farming in the seas at the south of Chile (41-53°S). The products of Chilean fisheries and aquaculture are mainly for exportation, and the fisheries consumption per capita in Chile is relatively low in comparison to the other countries of the world.