Puerto Gaviota (lit. Port

Seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

) is a village and fishing community in the Magdalena Island, southern Chile. It is located in the southwestern part of the island at the meeting point of

Puyuhuapi Channel Puyuhuapi (from the Mapudungun ''puye'', small fish and ''huapi'', island), also Cai Channel ( NGA UFI=-897934) is a sea channel separating Magdalena Island from the mainland of Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region in Chile. The ...

with

Moraleda Channel Moraleda Channel () is a body of water separating the Chonos Archipelago from the mainland of Chile. It is located at , leading to Gulf of Corcovado. Southward from the mouth of the Aisén Fjord, Moraleda Channel divides into two arms. The east a ...

. The village emerged as consequence of the ''

codfish Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

'' boom of the 1980s. Some early settlers arrived escaping persecution from the military dictatorship of Pinochet as they lacked the resources to escape abroad. Other early settlers were delinquents who feared torture or death by the authorities. As the codfish boom unraveled the artisan fishermen of Puerto Gaviota and

Puerto Gala Puerto Gala or Gala is a hamlet and fishing community in Toto Island, southern Chile. It is located at the meeting point of Jacaf Channel with Moraleda Channel Moraleda Channel () is a body of water separating the Chonos Archipelago from the ma ...

came into conflict with industrial fishing.

Overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

led eventually the government to put a ban on codfish fishing. The ban caused unemployment and the return to mainland Chile of some settlers. As of 2002 the village had a population of 117 inhabitants, 80 male and 37 female, by 2017 the population had declined to 65, 49 male and 16 female.

References

Ports and harbours of Chile Populated places in Aysén Province Populated places in the fjords and channels of Chile {{Aisén-geo-stub