On May 13, 2020, seven former workers blocked the entrance to the Coomarpes plant, preventing any trucks from entering, after they were laid off without pay, according to a local news report.1 Police broke up the demonstrators.2
Coomarpes has been the subject of persistent allegations and complaints regarding the air and water pollution it emits from its plant. “We are faced with a particularly serious and ongoing situation that is not limited to the serious fact of the contamination of the beach at the Port of this city by a fluid of fecal coliforms, but also to the nauseating odors that the fishmeal mills have caused for years, and which, as can be seen from the considerations made by the company and the oversight bodies, is something that can be mitigated so as not to continue harming the city’s residents and those who visit it as tourists,” the attorney general said in April 2021, according to 0223Com.3
In October 2024, a judge held executives of Coomarpes criminally responsible for discharging waste through a storm drain, according to a report by Revista Puerto.4 On November 22, 2024, Coomarpes reached an agreement to avoid trial over its pollution of the environment by putting over $180,000 toward an abandoned government plan to expand the local sewage network, according to La Politica Online.5 Coomarpes was certified under the MarinTrust Global Standard for Responsible Supply between 2024 and 2027.6 This standard requires plants to have a documented policy that demonstrates compliance with national environmental regulations.7 Yet, this seems to be in contradiction with the company’s criminal liability related to polluting the local environment, casting doubt on the effectiveness of the certification.
On December 18, 2024, over 100 Coomarpes employees told Mi8 that the company said it was no longer paying them a guaranteed Christmas bonus.8
Coomarpes did not respond to a request for comment.9