Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 82 (3): 443-457, 2009
COMMENTARY
Future directions of Chilean ecotoxicology: Implications for the environmental risk assessment
of veterinary products used in aquaculture
The bidirectional relationship that aquaculture has with the environment set limits to the
growth this economic activity has in Chile. This condition has generated both technical constraints and environmental as well as social
conflicts. The growing demand for new chemotherapeutic compounds and their release into aquatic environments is now considered
one of the main problems being faced by the salmon industry in Chile. However, little is known about the effects these substances
exert on non-target species and on the structure and functioning of exposed ecosystems. Through the application of theory and
methods from contemporary ecology, the present work aims at contributing towards the development of a methodology that allows a
reduction of the uncertainty level associated to the environmental risk assessment of veterinary products used in aquaculture. The
current status of the environmental risk assessment in Chile is revised and those critical aspects feasible to fix are identified,
considering the procedures currently in use. Finally, a general methodological approach is proposed that considers a coherent
expansion of standard ecotoxicological tests combining research at community, population, and individual levels, with mathematical
modeling of ecological systems.
Key words:
applied ecology,
complex systems, environmental management, mesocosms, microcosms
