Chile launches $600 million aid program for artisanal fishers in Tongoy

The Chilean Subsecretaría de Pesca y Acuicultura announced the "Concurso Extraordinario de Recuperación y Reactivación Económica de la Actividad Pesquera Artesanal y la Acuicultura de Pequeña Escala," a $600 million program to support artisanal fishers and small‑scale aquaculture operators damaged by the frontal systems that struck the Coquimbo region in July, with the launch ceremony held in the heavily affected fishing village of Tongoy.

The scheme will fund repairs of boats, engines, diving equipment, port infrastructure, processing plants and aquaculture facilities. It is open to registered fishers and fishing organizations across ten regions – Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Valparaíso, O’Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Biobío, La Araucanía and Los Ríos. More than a thousand fishers in Tongoy were reported affected. Subsecretary of Fisheries Osvaldo Urrutia and Tongoy’s fishing‑village leader Priscila Haro emphasized the urgency, with Haro stating, "Tenemos un número importante de pescadores artesanales a nivel regional que están complicados con la situación."