Jessica

Saturday (1/4/14) we left Santiago in the morning.  There was a big plush tour bus rented for the 6 hour drive.  But at the last minute I jumped in with the car that was following behind.  This was me, Doug Ahlers who runs the program for Harvard, and Ned Strong who is a Harvard guy who has been living in Chile for 3 years working on this and other Harvard projects. It was cool to ride with them.  First of all, because I finally got a chance to find out what was expected of me!!  But also because I got to trade a lot of stories and talk about a lot of experiences and opportunities.

On Sunday our day was mapped out for us.  We all piled into a van and were given a guided tour of the region including the ports, fish markets, tourist spots, etc in towns that included Coliumo, Talcahuano, Punta Arco, Lenga, and others.

The highlight of that trip was our first stop... a mussel and oyster farm in Coliumo just across the bay from Dichato.  The farm is owned and operated by Jessica Cabrera Torres. It is almost a one woman operation, although her brother joined us on the trip and seems to be a key helper. Jessica is from a fishing family and grew up as a diver and fisherman.  In all of these roles she has had to battle for acceptance as a woman in a "machismo" culture.  If that wasn't hard enough she has decided to tackle the uphill battle of developing a whole new aquaculture industry in a region that is resistant to change.

But it's pretty obvious that Jessica has a clear vision. She wants to turn her products into a high end, gourmet offering that command a premium price.  She sees that this is the best way to be economically viable while staying small enough to be ecologically sustainable. She has seen the damage of overfishing and of the salmon farm boom and she doesn't want to make those same mistakes. It's also obvious that if anyone can pull this off it's Jessica. She has an magnetic personality (even if you can't speak her language), she is smart, and makes connections at every level from Universities to other fishermen.  In this area all you have to say is "Jessica" and everyone knows who you are talking about.