Valparaíso, November 25, 2025 (CCC/Ecoceanos News) – Citing Chile’s public information access laws, the civil society organizations Cetacean Conservation Center and Ecoceanos Center have submitted a formal letter to the National Director of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), María Tapia Almonacid.
The action seeks to compel the disclosure of all details surrounding the capture and death of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) on March 25, 2025. The fatal incident occurred when the factory vessel Antarctic Endeavour, operated by Pesca Chile S.A., entangled the whale during its krill fishing operations near the South Orkney Islands in the Antarctic Peninsula.
Antarctic Endeavour: A Repeat Offender in Fatal Whale Entanglements
The formally delivered letter demands that Sernapesca release the full details of the criminal complaint filed by Sernapesca to the Court of Guarantee in Punta Arenas, including the technical report that found the company in alleged violation of the General Law on Fisheries and Aquaculture.
The organizations are also demanding full access to all inspection and monitoring records for the Antarctic Endeavour. This demand extends beyond the recent case to include a separate, similar incident in January 2024, when the same trawler caused the entanglement and death of a juvenile humpback whale. They are further seeking the status of any administrative sanctioning proceedings Sernapesca may have initiated against the vessel’s owner.
Elsa Cabrera, executive director of the Cetacean Conservation Center, stated, “The Antarctic Endeavour is a repeat offender. Two humpback whale deaths in less than two years not only highlights a severe problem but demands an urgent and robust institutional response to these fatalities and to our request for information.” Cabrera added that, under the Transparency Law, they expect the agency to provide the requested information within 20 business days.
Juan Carlos Cárdenas, executive director of the Ecoceanos Center, declared, “As civil society organizations, we will be watching closely. We will monitor Sernapesca’s legal actions against the owner of the Antarctic Endeavour and scrutinize the complicit role of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in granting a false ‘sustainability’ certification to the krill operations of Pesca Chile S.A.— the company directly responsible for killing protected whales in Patagonian and sub-Antarctic waters.”
The environmentalists affirmed that this action represents the public’s interest in safeguarding cetaceans, which are protected under Chilean Law 20.293, known as the National Whale Sanctuary. They stressed the critical need for civilian oversight to ensure such fatal events are properly penalized and prevented from happening again in the future, both in the fragile ecosystem of the Southern Ocean and within Chile’s national waters.