Following years of criticism of the environmental and labour impacts of the salmon industry in Chile, several local ngos and trade unions have joined hands to set up a new body to monitor the industry. The Labour and Environmental Observatory of Chiloe began functioning in the last week of July. Salmon, the second leading export product of Chile, is a major contributor to the country's economic growth. But the industry has always been criticised for not sticking to the clean production accord as signed with the government in 2002. Instead, the salmon farms have continued with indiscriminate use of antibiotics and large amounts of fish feed, which end up in the waters below the offshore pens, depleting the oxygen level in the surrounding ocean. According to media reports, following trans-nationalisation of the salmon industry in Chile, its labour and environmental standards have further deteriorated.
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