Chilean Fish Farms and the Tragedy of the Commons

Chilean Fish Farms and the Tragedy of the Commons

"We blamed the ISA virus on eggs imported from Norway," Alvial says. "But the real problem was overcrowded conditions in our pens. We weren't paying attention to the long term effects of these mega-farms."

Scientists now understand that the oceans are made up of interrelated ecosystems. And any ecosystem has a carrying capacity, an ill-defined capacity for how much life can be sustained by the available food and oxygen.

"It's human nature," Alvial says. "We were so arrogant. This little country in South America showing the world how to build a world class aquaculture system. And we weren't listening to the people who were telling us: You're taking too many risks, not enough research, not enough regulation.

"So it may have started with a single lot of eggs from Norway, or a single boat or a single net... But we can't blame our crisis on a few contaminated eggs. We have to blame it on our lack of knowledge of the carrying capacity."

Fortunately, he says, the same entrepreneurial spirit that built the industry was marshaled to respond to the crisis. "We are a very opportunistic country."