INCAR Center

The Chilean aquaculture sector plays a vital role in the country’s economy, contributing in 2021 with $5.6 billion to the Chilean export revenue, accounting for 6% of all national exports ($94.6 billion). Aquaculture is a significant source of employment, particularly in southern Chile, where over 50000 jobs have been created due to this activity.

Chile has emerged as the world’s second-largest salmon producer, producing over one million tons valued at $5.2 billion yearly, standing out as the most significant export commodity after copper and lithium, generating approximately 22,000 direct jobs and 16,500 indirect jobs. However, despite its remarkable importance and growth, the Chilean salmon industry faces significant environmental, health, and socio-economic challenges.

Chile boasts a diverse aquaculture industry, with salmon farming being just one of its significant components. After China, Chile holds the second position as the world’s leading producer of mussels, with an annual production of 425,000 tons (2021), establishing as a leading exporter of mussels, generating US$ 271 million annually (2021). This sector contributes to the creation of approximately 17,000 direct jobs along its value chain, with microenterprises accounting for 89% of mussel producers. However, the mussel producers also face significant sustainability challenges and issues.

Recognizing the crucial role of aquaculture in Chile’s future, in 2011 CONICYT (now ANID) designated aquaculture as a strategic area for scientific knowledge development to promote its sustainability, initiating a bidding process to establish a center of research excellence supported by the FONDAP (Fund for Research Centers in Priority Areas). That is how INCAR (Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research) was created.

INCAR was established in 2012 as the pioneering interdisciplinary research center for sustainable aquaculture in Chile, established through a strategic alliance between three prominent academic and research institutions: Universidad de Concepción, Universidad Andrés Bello, and Universidad Austral de Chile. The mission of INCAR is to generate relevant and excellent scientific knowledge that will facilitate the transformation of aquaculture into an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable industry, thereby contributing to Chile’s sustainable development. The center’s vision is to become a globally recognized center of excellence for sustainable aquaculture research in the Southeast Pacific. With its current trajectory, INCAR is effectively fulfilling its mission, making significant progress towards realizing its vision.

The Ecosystemic Approach to Aquaculture (EAA) serves as the central paradigm for all activities conducted at INCAR, particularly those related to research, policy formulation, human resource development, and outreach. By promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and fostering interaction among research groups, the EAA enhances the Center’s overall effectiveness.

The pursuit of a robust and sustainable aquaculture industry in Chile poses a highly complex challenge that demands interdisciplinary approaches. However, we also recognize the crucial role of single-discipline efforts in acquiring the necessary knowledge to comprehend the processes, mechanisms, and natural events that play a fundamental role in aquaculture production and sustainability. Therefore, INCAR incorporates a wide range of scientific disciplines, including Sociology, Economics, Molecular Biology, Genomics, Biogeochemistry, Hydrodynamic Modeling, Biological Oceanography, Physical Oceanography, Physiology, Ecology, and Microbiology, among others. Furthermore, several of the Center’s Research Programs are designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration.

The organization of the INCAR Center can be seen in the following organization chart: