Pescastemic Rights for Blue Justice: Aquaculture and Coal Power Complexes in Chile

In the marine environment of Chile, significant protests from small-scale fishers and wider coastal communities have repeatedly stated concerns about Blue Justice. These concerns have specifically been about the areas zoned for aquaculture in the south, and coal powered, smelter, petrochemical port industrial complex contamination found in the north. This chapter identifies the need for participatory, testimonial, epistemic, and decolonial environmental rights, both today and in the context of new constitution to realize marine democracy. A series of case studies are considered from Quintero in the north and Quellon in the south, based on interviews and focus groups. These case studies show that current marine environmental human rights are insufficient, and that the system needs to evolve. Building on literature about critical environmental justice, this chapter identifies next steps towards becoming a marine ecological democracy and theorizes the conditions needed to ascertain Pescastemic rights.