250px, Stylized photograph of a barricade on May 6 2016 just north of Castro. The red tide crisis in Chiloé, also known as "Chilote May" ( es, Mayo chilote), was a social, economic and environmental catastrophe that occurred in the

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago ( es, Archipiélago de Chiloé, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and t ...

, southern Chile, in the southern autumn of 2016, as a result of a severe

algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompas ...

of the

dinoflagellate The dinoflagellates (Greek δῖνος ''dinos'' "whirling" and Latin ''flagellum'' "whip, scourge") are a monophyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes constituting the phylum Dinoflagellata and are usually considered algae. Dinoflagellates are ...

Alexandrium catenella ''Alexandrium catenella'' is a species of dinoflagellates. It is among the group of ''Alexandrium'' species that produce toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, and is a cause of red tide. ‘’Alexandrium catenella’’ is observed in ...

'' — a

microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellular species which exist indiv ...

responsible for the phenomenon known as

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural phycotoxin, algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are ...

. The bloom, which spread between the months of March and April throughout the outer sea of the

Los Lagos Region Los Lagos Region ( es, Región de Los Lagos , ''Region of the Lakes'') is one of Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé, Llanquihue, Osorno and Palena. The region contains ...

, the inland coast of Chiloé and the

Chacao Channel The Chacao Channel ( es, Canal de Chacao) is located in Los Lagos Region, Chile and separates Chiloé Island from mainland Chile. The channel was created during the Quaternary glaciations by successive glaciers that flowed down from the Andes to ...

, affected thousands of artisanal fishermen on the

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island ( es, Isla de Chiloé, , ) also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern ...

—in addition to from other communes such as

Calbuco Calbuco is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Calbuco. Administratively Calbuco belongs to the Llanquihue Province of Los Lagos Region. The origin of the city was the Spanish Fort Calbuco founded in 1603, an ...

Maullín Maullín is Chilean town and commune in Llanquihue Province which is part of Los Lagos Region. The commune is located in at the outflow of Maullín River. History In 1674, there was a group of soldiers Basques in the present position of the commu ...

and

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune spa ...

—the regional capital—due to the prohibition of extracting resources from the sea, since they were contaminated with paralytic shellfish poison (PSP). The severe economic effects and the poor response provided by the administration of

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

—as well as the controversial dumping of more than 4,600 tons of decomposing salmon off the coast of Chiloé, carried out in March by the salmon industry with the authorization of the Government—provoked a social mobilization unprecedented in the

history of Chiloé The history of Chiloé, an archipelago in Chile's south, has been marked by its geographic and political isolation. The archipelago has been described by Renato Cárdenas, historian at the Chilean National Library, as “a distinct enclave, linke ...

, which, by blocking routes and maritime access to the island, kept the archipelago paralyzed and isolated from the mainland for eighteen days —between the 2nd and the 19th of may-. The blockades and protests would end after all the mobilized communes reached agreements with the Government on economic aid, but the ban on extracting resources would remain in place for several months in various areas of the region, due to the presence of toxins. The crisis generated harsh questions about the role of the Government during the emergency, as well as the salmon industry for its role in the emergency and the alleged impact of its operation on the environment.

References

{{Chiloe Archipelago Fishing in Chile History of Chiloé 2016 in Chile Natural disasters in Chile Protests in Chile Red tide May 2016 events in South America