SalmonChile’s Board of Directors Elects Patricio Melero as the New President of the Trade Association

The agricultural engineer, former deputy and former Minister of Labor and Social Security will assume leadership of the trade association starting March 1, contributing his vast experience in public policy and his knowledge of the national aquaculture sector.

Puerto Varas – The Board of Directors of SalmonChile, a trade association that brings together producers and suppliers of Chilean salmon farming, elected Patricio Melero Abaroa, an agricultural engineer with an extensive public career and broad experience in regulatory matters related to the aquaculture sector, as its new president this afternoon.

Melero, who will assume his duties on March 1st, has a solid professional background and a distinguished public career. An Agricultural Engineer from the University of Chile, he served as a deputy for two districts in the Metropolitan Region (1990-2021), president of the Chamber of Deputies (2011-2012), and Minister of Labor and Social Security during the second administration of President Sebastián Piñera (2021-2022).

During his parliamentary career, he served on and chaired the Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee of the Lower House for five terms, notably contributing to the passage of the first Fisheries and Aquaculture Law in 1991, which incorporated aquaculture development and the sustainable use of marine resources. Melero also possesses extensive experience in fieldwork and community engagement, which is highly valuable to SalmonChile.

“Salmon farming is currently the country’s second largest export and has enormous potential to continue growing and expanding its markets, thereby generating more quality jobs and investments. I accept the challenge of leading SalmonChile with the purpose of promoting this growth within a framework of environmental sustainability, technological innovation, and public-private collaboration that generates greater certainty to facilitate its development,” Melero stated after his appointment.

The new president of SalmonChile will replace Arturo Clément, who has led the association for the past several years, contributing to the strengthening and positioning of salmon farming at the national level, as well as the development of sustainable production standards and best practices in the sector. In this context, the board decided that, upon completion of his term, Clément will serve as past president and support the new president for a period of three months, thus facilitating the induction of the new head of the organization.

Furthermore, the board of SalmonChile announced that, starting February 1st, the current Corporate Affairs Manager of the association, Tomás Monge, will assume the role of General Manager of SalmonChile.