Chile is one of the world’s leading countries in landings (catch) of marine resources. The paper reviews the development of marine conservation actions since approximately 1970 to date, focusing on the (1) complex legal framework for establishment of marine protected areas, (2) scientific grounds that provided the impetus to establish areas where exploitation is regulated, (3) private efforts that were critical to creating the first marine protected areas, and (4) lessons and constraints derived from this process as well as the challenges ahead. It is interesting to note that most of the existing marine protected areas in Chile are sponsored and administered by private organizations. The sequence in which the development of the different conservation instruments occurred, shows that a high priority reserved for initiatives tending to promote exploitation of the ocean (aquaculture and fisheries), poses challenges and constraints for establishing a network of marine protected areas that combine such apparently diametrically opposing goals as exploitation and preservation of marine species.