The Chilean Supreme Court of Justice ruled in favor of the appeal presented by Sernapesca and annulled the judgment that acquitted Salmones de Chile S.A. of the sanction for commercializing illegal fishmeal.

The case started in September 2015 when Sernapesca found 918.81 tons of fishmeal and 43.77 tons of fish oil in the warehouses of the PROSESA S.A. without the documentation that proves its legal origin. Sernapesca filed a complaint in court with Salmones Chile Alimentos and the fishing company Bahía Coronel. The company was sentenced to pay a fine of 250 monthly tax units ($16,000) and the seizure of the products ($959,000).

This case was part of a set of complaints that Sernapesca filed against other companies related to the production and commercialization of fishmeal from the Biobío region. The so-called “Caso Harinas” seized more than 7,500 tons of fishmeal without accreditation, equivalent to approximately 40,000 tons of raw material.

The lack of accreditation of legal origin by processors and suppliers of fishmeal and fish oil from collapsed or overexploited resources, as is the case of anchovy from the Biobío region, currently is punished by the Chilean law.