translated from Spanish: Jibia and Science

Mr. Director:
Jibia has been the protagonist of an absurd dispute generated by a law that, without technical or scientific sustenance, has left the industry out of its capture. A scenario that, in addition to the closure of processing plants, the shutdown of ships, the end of exports and the hundreds of layoffs, directly threatens science.
Jibia is a mollusc with many goodnesses and has been study material of several scientific publications, especially in Asia. In Chile, the electrical properties of this giant squid, which is even credited with the birth of Chilean biophysics, have also been investigated.
Since the start of industrial jibia fishing, the fishing industry has begun a race to investigate its qualities. Together with universities and laboratories in the Biobío Region, it was called to develop a hydrolyzed collagen (protein that provides resistance and flexibility to the body’s tissues) from the skin and cartilage of the jibia. Today, Chile has its own collagen production and the existing one is of pig or bovine origin. In the Biobío region, several pioneering projects were under development, with strong investments, but now, with the access to jibia, they will not be able to move forward.
Another challenge in which scientific research of the industry was located is the removal of heavy metals that accumulates the jibia in its intestine because of its condition of mollusc filter. After hard work and industrial testing, this purified product was marketed to Japan.
Leaving the capture of jibia exclusively to the artisanal sector, is a setback for the country’s competitiveness and, worse, a loss for science, because research does not navigate according to political cycles.
Dr. Eduardo Bohorodzaner
President Pesquera Landes

Original source in Spanish