Ecobreves – CHILE: Salmon Workers Denounce Death of Diver

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, Mar 17 2008 (IPS) - Conatrasal, the Chilean national confederation of salmon industry workers, is demanding that the Navy and the courts investigate the cause of death of a diver who was harvesting salmon at a fish farming operation in the southern region of Aysén. Conatrasal president Javier Ugarte told Tierramérica that diver Víctor Obando Gallardo, who died Mar. 8, was forced to work despite the fact that the Navy had decreed a ban that day due to bad weather.

Ugarte said that for the past three years they have asked authorities to provide hyperbaric chambers in the region to help divers with decompression. “Aysén is not prepared for the expansion of salmon farming within its territory,” said the union leader.