The UK is driving a project of up to 50,000 tons annually, while the leftist NGO promoted in Argentina the prohibition of the activity that the British administration is now seeking to develop
The sovereignty of Argentina over the Falkland Islands, a national territory usurped under British occupation since 1833, faces a new geopolitical and economic provocation today.
In this scenario of asymmetry, the British government that de facto administers the islands opened a 12-week public consultation on August 7, which will close on October 30, 2026, to assess the development of large-scale salmon farming in the archipelago.
British Government of the Falkland Islands
The silence of Greenpeace in the face of this phenomenal British fishing advance in our sovereign waters is absolute. This suspicious passivity violently contrasts with the fierce lobbying that these same foreign organizations deployed in 2021 to annihilate development in the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands.
That year, the provincial legislature enacted the destructive Law 1.355, completely prohibiting industrial salmon farming under the pressure of Greenpeace and the Rewilding foundation, led by Kristine Tompkins (widow of the magnate Douglas Tompkins, creator of the North Face brand), with the complicit celebration of foreign entrepreneurs like Yvon Chouinard (owner of Patagonia INC.) and a group of elite chefs aligned with the narrative such as Narda Lepes and Germán Martitegui.
While Greenpeace celebrated with great fanfare a "event that sets a historical precedent for the rest of the country and the world", it condemned the province to a deep economic decline.
The referenced project, presented by the company Unity Marine, contemplates a colossal annual production of up to 50,000 tons of salmon, which will initially be distributed across 16 sites around Soledad Island, equipping each with 10 cages and a feeding barge, in addition to work boats, a well boat, and a supply vessel.
Greenpeace Argentina
An industry of just 30,000 tons annually would inject between 30 and 35 million pounds into the archipelago's economy, adding royalties and taxes, and generating more than 100 direct jobs in a logistical framework that even anticipates importing fish feed from Chile.
The impact of this environmental sabotage has been devastating for the citizens. While the province sank into an employment crisis with around 90,000 poor people, across the border, in the Chilean region of Magallanes, salmon farming already represents 50% of the regional GDP, exporting goods and services worth over USD 1.2 billion.
The production of Magallanes reaches 180,000 tons and exports USD 650 million annually to premium markets, generating between 7,000 and 8,000 direct jobs, with average salaries of USD 1,500 to USD 1,700 and executive salaries ranging from USD 3,000 to USD 4,000 with caps exceeding USD 8,000.
Additionally, it supports an ecosystem of over 150 service microenterprises that reactivate local hospitality and transportation.
Chilean experts estimate that Tierra del Fuego could perfectly host 50 production centers in the Beagle, equivalent to an immediate potential of concessions with an average value of USD 1 million each to reach 180,000 tons of production (i.e., 50 concessions).
Greenpeace Argentina
Moreover, building a high-tech processing plant in the province to employ 1,000 workers in two shifts would take "a year or less, we have made significant progress in technology".
Even more compelling is the 2018 study by the Interdisciplinary Center for Studies in Science, Technology, and Innovation (Ciecti), which calculated that the aquaculture potential of Argentina could generate exports worth between 60 billion to 600 billion dollars, representing from 12 percent to over 100 percent of Argentina's GDP.
At the time, Doctor in Sociology and director of CEP XXI, Daniel Schteingart, denounced the prohibition as a "serious strategic error" stating: "I don't think it's good to celebrate a prohibition on a productive activity. I think it's fine to discuss how to regulate it, scales, zonings, pilot tests, modes of production, but not to prohibit outright. Much less does it seem appropriate when poverty has risen sixteen points in three years, the economy has shrunk, and when it is extremely difficult for us to develop new productive activities and grow existing ones. Let's discuss standards, state controls, regulations, zoning, rents. The prohibitions that are celebrated are those that prohibit child labor and human trafficking, not those of productive activities".
Salmonella
In the face of this landscape of neglect and sovereign submission, the liberal government of President Javier Milei has decided to put an end to the tyranny of environmentalism. With a decisive strategic shift and in line with the ideas of freedom, the national administration has promoted the liberalization of the aquaculture sector in Tierra del Fuego to attract massive investments of high export value.
The provincial legislator Agustín Coto led this cultural and legislative battle by presenting the project to authorize the activity.
Thanks to this firm political decision by the administration of Javier Milei, the province has made progress in modifying the absurd total prohibition of Law 1.355 of 2021.
Under this new zoning scheme, areas of extreme environmental sensitivity such as the Beagle Channel, Laguna Esmeralda, and Lago Fagnano are protected, but new areas for controlled commercial exploitation are enabled.
At the same time, the National Government of Javier Milei has facilitated economic growth through a notable reduction of tax burdens to enhance the competitiveness of local producers against the Chilean giant. Likewise, SENASA implemented an agile and modern system of electronic traceability and health inspection to guarantee global biological standards without stifling private initiative.
