Original article: Contaminación en Parque Nacional: informe acusa a salmonera Cooke por sobreproducción y residuos en Laguna San Rafael

Contamination in National Park: Report Blames Cooke Aquaculture for Overproduction and Waste in Laguna San Rafael

A damning international report accuses the multinational giant Cooke Aquaculture of operating under a pattern of overproduction, pollution, and the use of banned chemicals.

The document titled «The Environmental Sins of Cooke Aquaculture in Canada, the United States, and Chile,» prepared by the Conservation Law Foundation of the United States and the Private Corporation for the Development of Aysén in Chile, denounces the world’s largest private seafood company as having a culture of environmental impunity.

Originating from Canada, Cooke Aquaculture is present in 14 countries, including Chile, where it operates along the coast of the Aysén region, specifically in the Cupquelán fjord, which includes the interior of the Laguna San Rafael National Park. According to the report, it produced over 35,000 tons of salmon while holding a permit for only 1,625 tons.

This overproduction has been accompanied by records of massive escapes of salmon, pollution from waste, and the discovery of two dead whales near its facilities—a situation that has been investigated by the Environmental Superintendence, the Public Ministry, the National Fisheries Service, and the Environmental Crimes Brigade of the PDI.

In light of these findings, Sernapesca filed a criminal complaint, and the environmental courts ordered the company to halt its operations, even as the firm insists on promoting its «organic salmon,» as reported by El Mostrador.

Lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada Over Pollution

In the U.S., Cooke is the sole industrial producer of salmon in marine cages in the state of Maine, and according to the document, its operations significantly impact the ecology by causing «the cages to accumulate waste, plastics, and chemicals that suffocate the ocean floor and affect local fishing.»

Additionally, its activities threaten the migration of Atlantic salmon, a species at risk of extinction.

This alarming situation prompted the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) to file a lawsuit against the multinational in 2025 for multiple violations of the Clean Water Act.

The CLF accused the Canadian corporation of «discharging into the coastal waters of Maine pollutants like fish feces, uneaten food pellets, live escaped fish, dead fish, and pieces of dead fish, sea lice, and viruses.»

Moreover, it also alleged the discharge of rubbish (including discarded ropes, plastic feed bags, plastic tubes, plastic platforms, and pieces of net pen structure), blood, nutrients (including nitrogen), and chemicals.

The lawsuit was filed against the salmon farm for violations of the «Federal Water Pollution Control Act,» also known as the Clean Water Act, at 13 of its centers located in Maine.

In Canada, the origin country of the Cooke empire, the story is quite similar. According to the report, the company has engaged in the «illegal use of pesticides, viral outbreaks, in addition to exerting political pressure to hinder the creation of marine protected areas.»

The document recalls that in 2013, it was fined for killing lobsters after using cypermethrin in its cages, and more recently attempted to block a conservation area in the fjords of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cooke Faces Sanctions While Marketing ‘Sustainable Salmon’

This behavior highlights a pattern of environmental deregulation that seems to extend across all countries where the salmon company operates.

The report particularly notes that «while accumulating sanctions and lawsuits, Cooke presents itself as a model company, selling ‘sustainable salmon.'»