Abstract: In this paper a methodological approach is proposed and applied to undertake a participatory process to obtain sustainable development indicators for the salmon sector in Chile including a common vision of sustainability for this industry. The selected indicators are a mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches, which capture the specific needs and perceptions of the different stakeholders related to salmon farming while allowing a high degree of international comparability. A detailed step by step description of the methodology allows understanding how to obtain acceptable social, economic and environmental indicators, a result that can be replicated in other natural resource based productive sectors that are common in developing contexts. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.