First national campaign to boost fish consumption

The initiative will be launched through the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca) and Choose a Healthy Life Programme.

The campaign will last six weeks and will be released nationwide through television, print media, social networks, radio stations and in the streets.

The government proposal consists in encouraging families to have fish and shellfish for lunch or for dinner, being cuttlefish, hake and mussels the protagonists.

"We hope this campaign will allow us to take a first step towards meeting the ultimate goal, which is to increase the consumption of these products nationwide, changing the eating habits of thousands of Chileans," said Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism, Pablo Longueira .

"Despite having more than 4,300 miles of coast that is rich in marine resources in our country, our consumption of these foods is one of the lowest in the world," he added.

He continued: "To those who accuse us of intending to end artisanal fishing, we want to tell them that on the contrary, our efforts are focused on empowering small fishermen of the coves of Chile for them to be able to market their products directly."

The presentation of the campaign was also attended by Cecilia Morel, who is the wife of the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera.

There she said that "according to the 2012 Survey Choose a Healthy Life, fish is hardly ever consumed compared to other types of food, since only 20 per cent of Chileans recognised having eaten it in the last month."

"The call is to become aware of the importance of its consumption and to search for cheaper options," she stressed.

Meanwhile, Subpesca head, Pablo Galilea, said that for 15 days a delegation of five Spanish experts will visit Chile. The objective of the technical mission is to visit fishing villages in the south of the country and to strengthen marketing channels and product safety of artisanal fisheries.