Atlantic salmon, the native salmon that used to inhabit the northern Atlantic Ocean, rivers and seas, is a species now represented by an impostor: farmed salmon. The following article explores governance issues in the world's second largest producer of aquacultured Atlantic salmon, Chile. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is a high-value cultured finfish species, and the main species cultured in Canada, Chile, UK, and Norway (16) (17)(18). Domesticated forms are now widely available, arriving fresh to markets and restaurants from commercial aquaculture sites off the coasts of Maine, Canada, Norway and even Alaska and Chile. Introduction. July 2006 Main Conclusions Atlantic salmon escapes • Although the number of Atlantic salmon produced in BC has increased radically since their introduction to this area, the posed threat of escaped farmed salmon. Salmon farming in crisis: 'We are seeing a chemical arms race in the seas' Rare only 40 years ago, farmed salmon is now taken for granted in our kitchens. In 1989, a large number of farmed Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) mortalities occurred in Chile and, at that time, researchers were unsure of the etiologic agent.In 1990, Fryer et al isolated the organism in a chinook salmon embryo cell line and classified it as a rickettsia.The pathogenicity of this organism was confirmed in 1991 by the fulfilment of Koch's postulates (). Produc-tion started with coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). see www.intesal.cl), the local human capacity to understand changes and be prepared still seems to be limited. In this Alert, we draw on information from a team of scien-tists, from BC and Europe, to pres-ent the facts behind the issues. Introduction Salmon and trout farming in Chile started in 1986 with a production of 2500 tons (Salgado 2005) and increased to about 200 000 tons in 1996, 647 263 tons in 2006 and to 727 810 tons in 2016 (SERNAPESCA 1986-2016). Over the past several decades, commercial culture of anadromous Atlantic salmon expanded globally. These “farm-raised” salmon are grown in captivity and only ever see the inside of hatcheries … Although salmon farming is a technologically advanced industry and there are numerous monitoring systems and information platforms in Chile (e.g. 1 It presents and analyses stakeholder perceptions regarding salmon aquaculture in the Chilean Patagonia, based on a series of seven workshops incorporating key stakeholders in April 2013.