On Monday night, Chilean artisanal fishermen in the Biobio region blocked roads and access to ports to protest President Gabriel Boric's restrictions on fishing.
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Fishermen denounce the impossibility of catching horse mackerel and mackerel, two varieties that could be an alternative for generating income due to the absence of sardine and anchovy, the BioBioChile outlet reported.
"Yesterday we proposed a lot of formulas to carry out this fishery, but the Government closed all the doors to us," declared Cesar Jorquera, who is the president of the Association of Artisanal Fishermen of San Vicente and vice president of the National Confederation of Artisanal Fishermen of Chile (CONAPACH).
“As in the past, artisanal fishermen will be forced to take to the streets,” said Pedro Martinez, the spokesperson for the Bio Bio Artesanal Fishing Board.
The text reads, "Fishermen's barricades flare up with protests in southern Chile. The so-called 'sardine crisis' has caused road blockades in the Bio Bio region."
“We spent two days sitting in a work group. It would seem quite absurd to us that we have to occupy public roads and interrupt society for a situation that could have been resolved yesterday,” he added.
Fishery workers have placed incendiary barricades to cut off traffic to the ports of Talcahuano and San Vicente. They also established barriers in the communes of Tome, Coronel, Lota, and Talcahuano. This is causing difficulties on the roads heading to Penquista city.
"By blocking the main routes to the city, the union seeks answers to the so-called Sardine Crisis," Radio UChile explained, adding that artisanal fishing for this species has decreased by 20 percent compared to 2023.