Peru’s National Fisheries Society (SNP) expects the overall catch of anchovies to fall 22 percent for the first seven months of 2019, when compared to the same period in 2018.
The government had assigned a lower fishing quota for Peru’s first fishing season, and inclement weather at the beginning of the season, with the resulting high winds and swells, led to the closing of ports and resulted in a late start of industrial fleet operations, SNP president Cayetana Aljovín said in a press release.
Anchovy catches during the first season in Peru’s North-Center region were 4.6 percent lower than the average of the last five years, she said.
The country’s fishing areas are divided in two: the south region and the north-center region, and each have different fishing seasons and capture limits. For the first season of 2019, the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) had established a capture limit of 540,000 metric tons (MT) for the south region and 2.1 million MT for the north-center region.
Peru’s south region entered its second season of 2019 on 5 August, with a capture limit set at 540,000 MT. The season runs through December. PRODUCE has implemented an increased tariff on anchovy fishing rights equivalent to 0.43 percent for each ton captured, up from the previous rate of 0.25 percent. The increase is expected to bring in an estimated PEN 90 million (USD 26.5 million, EUR 23.9 million) annually to government coffers, up from PEN 63 million (USD 18.6 million, EUR 16.7 million) under the previous formula. Revenue from the tax will be divided equally between the Peru’s regional governments and PRODUCE, which said it will invest in promoting fishery sustainability, monitoring control, and marketing and promotional activities.
The SNP has criticized the tax increase, which comes “at a time when companies have seen margins squeezed and have had a difficult time turning profits,” Aljovín said.
“Today’s regulatory burdens that the industry faces are greater than those of other OECD countries, including Chile. The increase makes us less competitive," Aljovín said.
The SNP head, who previously held the posts of minister of development and social inclusion, minister for energy and mines, and chancellor of the republic, lauded private sector and government efforts in sustainably developing the anchoveta fishery over the last 10 years.
Photo courtesy of Christian Vinces/Shutterstock
