Valparaíso — Chile’s Constitutional Court has struck down a measure the salmon industry saw as one of the clearest routes to restarting growth after years of stagnation.

The proposed “micro-relocation” system would have allowed existing aquaculture concessions to move by up to 350 metres without going through the full Environmental Impact Assessment System. It would not have created new licences or increased authorised biomass. Instead, farms could have shifted into locations with better depth, currents, or seabed conditions.

The reform was intended to unlock production that already existed on paper but had become difficult to use efficiently. More than 1,000 relocation applications have been submitted since 2010, while only two have successfully completed the process.

The court’s decision lands at a critical moment. Multi X executive Cristián Swett recently argued that Chile was beginning to emerge from almost two decades in which disease, regulation, and political uncertainty had held back growth. “With social and political support returning, we believe Chile can restart growth,” he said.

The government has pledged to explore alternative legislative and administrative routes to unblock investment and generate jobs in the sector