If you drive 1,200 kilometers south of Santiago, you will arrive at the small port of Calbuco, where families of tenacious small-scale fishermen still populate a large archipelago. About an hour after leaving the port in a small wooden boat you reach the island of Chidhuapi.
The landscape of the island’s 114 hectares is reminiscent of that of Scotland: woodland, emerald-green pastures, sheep, wooden houses looking out to sea, a church, a small school, a cemetery and little else. It is a beautiful spot, without hotels, restaurants, shops, electricity or telephones. On Chidhuapi, rare days of sunshine are squeezed between periods of rain and freezing wind. Here, the tradition of catching wild oysters has been passed down for at least four generations.
During the twice-daily low tides, the water in the island’s bays retreats as far as 300 meters, leaving the oyster beds uncovered. The fishermen go out at low tide, select the largest oysters and bring them near the shore. Here, there are simple stone enclosures for holding oysters selected for sale. The enclosures are marked off by nets fitted with white buoys, which allow divers to gather the oysters at high tide. Calbuco Black-Bordered Oysters are smaller than those found in other parts of the world – where they are cultivated in clusters suspended in the water – but offer better taste and texture and can easily be distinguished by their distinctive black fringe when opened.

The Presidium
The technique of gathering wild oysters on Chiduapi is disappearing: the number of gatherers can be counted on one hand. This ancient system respects the natural cycle of oyster beds by limiting harvesting to just six months of the year, in autumn and winter, when oysters do not reproduce, and selecting the largest specimens which are at least three years old.
This Presidium has been set up to help the last fishermen of the islands strengthen their organization and create a marketable name to distinguish their Black-Bordered Oyster from others. This will secure a distinct market, rewarding a product with excellent taste qualities, as wild oysters and cultivated oysters are currently sold at the same price on the Chilean market, as well as preserving a traditional and sustainable fishing practice. The Presidium will also help encourage the improvement of the infrastructure on Calbuco to support commercialization of the archipelago’s sustainably fished products.

Production area
Calbuco Archipelago, Region X (Los Lagos)