Fishing licenses can be granted to Chilean nationals, foreigners with permanent residence in Chile and legal entities which are legally constituted in Chile. Only fishing vessels registered in Chile in accordance with the provisions of the Navigation Law may be used for commercial fishing. In principle, ownership of Chilean fishing vessels is limited to Chilean natural persons or Chilean majority-owned corporations with principal domicile and real effective seat in Chile. However, exemptions may be granted on the basis of reciprocity to fishing companies incorporated in Chile with majority participation of foreign capital.
"Art. 4 The ships are classified into merchant and special ships and, depending on their size, into major and minor ships.
Merchant ships are those that serve transportation, whether national or international.
Special vessels are those used for specific services, tasks or purposes, with their own characteristics for the functions for which they are intended, such as tugboats, fishing boats, dredgers, etc. scientific or pleasure boats, and so on.
Major ships are those of more than fifty tons of thick register, and smaller ships, those of fifty or less tons of thick register.
[...]
Art. 11. To register a ship in Chile it is required that its owner be Chilean and that the other requirements established in this title are met.
If the ship is owned by more than one person or is owned by a legal person, the following rules must be applied:
a) If the owner of a ship is a company, it will be considered Chilean as long as it has its main domicile in Chile and its real and effective headquarters; that its president, manager and majority of directors or administrators, as the case may be, be Chilean; and that the majority of the capital stock belongs to Chilean natural or legal persons.
b) If the ship belongs to a community, it will be considered Chilean provided that the majority of the community members are Chilean, are domiciled and reside in Chile; that its administrators, where appropriate, be Chilean; and that most of the rights in the community belong to Chilean natural or legal persons.
c) For the purposes provided in the two previous letters, it will be considered that the legal persons that are members of a company that owns ships or community members in their domain, are Chilean when they meet the requirements established in the preceding letters, respectively.
Special vessels may also be registered in Chile With the exception of fishing companies, belonging to foreign natural or legal persons domiciled in the country, provided that they have the main seat of their business in Chile, or they exercise a profession or industry in the country on a permanent basis. These facts must be verified to the satisfaction of the maritime authority. The direction may, for reasons of national security, impose on these vessels special restrictive rules for their operations.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, applying the principle of international reciprocity, the maritime authority may release from the requirements of this article, under conditions of equivalence, fishing companies incorporated in Chile with majority participation of foreign capital, when in the country of origin of said capital there are registration requirements for foreign vessels and provisions for the development of fishing activities in accordance with said principle, to which natural or legal persons of Chile can be accommodated. For the purposes of determining reciprocity and equivalence, prior certification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be required.[...]" (Decree-Law no. 2222 substituting the Navigation Law (31 May 1978), last amended on 16 February 2018, Articles 4 and 11 [google translation])
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"Article 14.- In the territorial sea, with the exception of the reserve area for artisanal fishing, and in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic, there will be a general regime of access to industrial extractive fishing activity, in those fisheries that are not found declared in full exploitation regimes, in fisheries in recovery or incipient development referred to in the second and third paragraphs of this title.
If the activity requires the use of fishing vessels of any kind, they must be registered in Chile, in accordance with the provisions of the Navigation Law.
[...]
Article 17.- In the event that the applicant is a natural person, he or she must be a Chilean or a foreigner who has permanent residence.
If the applicant is a legal entity, it must be legally constituted in Chile. If there is participation of foreign capital in it, the fact that the investment has been previously authorized, in accordance with current legal provisions, must be accredited when appropriate.
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Article 44.- When the holder of an authorization, license or permit is a legal person with a contribution of foreign capital, the fishing vessels required to make it effective must be registered in his name, in accordance with the provisions of the Navigation Law.[...]" (Decree no. 430 setting the revised, coordinated and systematized text of Law no. 18.892 on Fisheries and Aquaculture (21 January 1992), last amended on 25 August 2021, Articles 14, 17 and 44 [google translation])
Decree-Law no. 2222 substituting the Navigation Law (31 May 1978), last amended on 16 February 2018, Articles 4 and 11
Decree no. 430 setting the revised, coordinated and systematized text of Law no. 18.892 on Fisheries and Aquaculture (21 January 1992), last amended on 25 August 2021, Articles 14, 17 and 44
[<a href="https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=6855">Decree-Law</a>],[<a href="https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=13315">Decree</a>]