Puerto Gaviota (lit. Port Seagull) is a village and fishing community in the Magdalena Island, southern Chile. It is located in the southwestern part of the island at the meeting point of Puyuhuapi Channel with Moraleda Channel. The village emerged as consequence of the codfish boom of the 1980s.[2]

Puerto Gaviota
Puerto Gaviota as seen in 2015
Puerto Gaviota as seen in 2015
Puerto Gaviota is located in Chile
Puerto Gaviota
Puerto Gaviota
Coordinates: 44°53′49.13″S 73°18′12.72″W / 44.8969806°S 73.3035333°W / -44.8969806; -73.3035333
RegionAysén
ProvinceAysén
MunicipalityCisnes
CommuneCisnes
Government
 • TypeMunicipal
Population
 (2017[1])
 • Total65
 49 male, 16 female
Time zoneUTC−04:00 (Chilean Standard)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−03:00 (Chilean Daylight)
Area codeCountry + town = 56 + 67

Some early settlers arrived escaping persecution from the military dictatorship of Pinochet as they lacked the resources to escape abroad.[3] Other early settlers were delinquents who feared torture or death by the authorities.[3]

As the codfish boom unraveled the artisan fishermen of Puerto Gaviota and Puerto Gala came into conflict with industrial fishing.[3] Overexploitation led eventually the government to put a ban on codfish fishing. The ban caused unemployment and the return to mainland Chile of some settlers.[3]

As of 2002 the village had a population of 117 inhabitants, 80 male and 37 female,[4] by 2017 the population had declined to 65, 49 male and 16 female.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ciudades, pueblos, aldeas y caceríos 2019" (PDF) (in Spanish). National Statistics Institute. 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  2. ^ Saavedra G., Gonzalo (2007). "Prácticas Económicas en las Costas Insulares de Aisén. Testimonios de Persistencia y Transformación" (PDF). Actas del 6º Congreso Chileno de Antropología. VI Congreso Chileno de Antropología (in Spanish). Valdivia: Colegio de Antropólogos de Chile A. G. pp. 1696–1703.
  3. ^ a b c d Marín Lleucún, Alejandro (2015). "Puerto Gala y Puerto Gaviota (1985-1993): Una mirada desde el triángulo de la violencia" [Port of Gala and Port of Gaviota (1985-1993): A look from the triangle of violence]. Magallania (in Spanish). 43 (2). Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  4. ^ Chile: Ciudades, pueblos, aldeas y caseríos, Instituto nacional de estadísticas, June 2005, retrieved January 10, 2014