On October 16, 2026, Chile's Servicio Nacional de Pesca y Acuicultura (SERNAPESCA) published that the Supreme Court rejected the recurso de casación en el fondo of Sociedad La Botica Limitada and kept a fine of 500 UTM for false information on the operation of its Chilean oyster centre (centro de cultivo de ostra chilena) in Ancud, Los Lagos. An October 2023 inspection showed that declared volumes did not match the centre's authorised productive capacity and exceeded it by more than ten times. Chilean oyster farm concession holders in Los Lagos who file SERNAPESCA stock, harvest and operation statistics must immediately reconcile those declared volumes with the authorised capacity of each centre, or a false declaration is denounced, and this file ended in a fine of 500 UTM confirmed by the Supreme Court against Sociedad La Botica Limitada.
The Supreme Court confirmed in full the Juzgado de Letras de Castro and the Corte de Apelaciones de Puerto Montt. Cristian Hudson, SERNAPESCA regional director for Los Lagos, said on October 16, 2026 that growers (cultivadores) must file faithful operation declarations (declaraciones de operación fidedignas). The service checks on site, remotely and on documents, contrasts filings with its own records, and denounces an inconsistency.
- Authority : Servicio Nacional de Pesca y Acuicultura (SERNAPESCA), Los Lagos region
- Entity : Sociedad La Botica Limitada, holder of a Chilean oyster farming centre in Ancud
- Measure and amount : fine of 500 UTM, confirmed by the Supreme Court
- Legal basis : false information on the operation of the Chilean oyster centre in Ancud (the note names no article)
- Decision date : SERNAPESCA published the confirmation on October 16, 2026
- Official source : SERNAPESCA, October 16, 2026 note
What happened
SERNAPESCA Los Lagos took the Ancud oyster-centre complaint to the Supreme Court. An October 2023 inspection and the company's statistical records showed declared volumes that did not match authorised productive capacity and exceeded it by more than ten times. The company filed a recurso de casación en el fondo. The Supreme Court rejected it, so the fine of 500 UTM stands. The note says the court confirmed the Juzgado de Letras de Castro and the Corte de Apelaciones de Puerto Montt in full, and it describes no measure beyond the fine.
The breach
The note describes false information on the operation of the centre: volumes that do not match authorised productive capacity and exceed it by more than ten times. It cites no article and reprints no judgment paragraph. Hudson's reading for other growers is that operation declarations must be faithful, because the service contrasts company figures with its own records and denounces an inconsistency.
Who else is in the same regime
Sociedad La Botica Limitada is the sanctioned holder, not the audience. Hudson addressed cultivadores: Chilean oyster farm concession holders in Los Lagos who file SERNAPESCA stock, harvest and operation statistics. A holder whose declared volumes exceed that centre's authorised capacity is in the same comparison.
What to check now
- Reconcile, for each centre, declared stock, harvest and operation volumes with the productive capacity authorised for that centre.
- Flag any declaration in which reported volumes exceed authorised capacity, the gap the Ancud file put at more than ten times.
- Keep the statistical records filed: SERNAPESCA contrasts them with its own records in on-site, remote and documentary checks.
- File faithful operation declarations (declaraciones de operación fidedignas), the standard Hudson restated on October 16, 2026.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces a confirmation like this SERNAPESCA note on the day the authority publishes it.
