Anchovy fishing in Peru’s north central region has reached 96.7 percent of the assigned quota and will reach 100 percent in the coming days, effectively putting an end to the season, Cayetana Aljovín, president of Peru’s National Fisheries Society (SNP), announced in a 22 July presentation.
A total capture limit of 2.41 million metric tons (MT) was established by the Production Ministry (PRODUCE), and landings to date have reached 2.33 MT since the season launch on 13 May, Aljovín said.
The main ports of landings included Chicama, Chimbote, Callao, Coishco, Végueta, Chancay, and Tambo de Mora.
Fishing companies associated with SNP have made an “enormous effort” in meeting biosecurity protocols defined in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Aljovín noted, having invested a total of PEN 41.3 million (USD 11.8 million, EUR 10.2 million). The companies have been fully back to work since the end of May, and zero jobs have been lost due to the health pandemic at SNP-related firms.
Peru’s northern sector boasts 49 fishing plants in total and “we don’t forsee any of these plants closing [due to the health pandemic], at least today in July,” she said, adding that seven plants had closed over the past decade in the south, as fishing has been low in that area.
The SNP head also highlighted that while the maximum amount of juvenile capture recommended by Peru’s Sea Institute (Imarpe) – a specialized technical agency of PRODUCE which advises the state on marine conservation issues – is 23 percent of the assigned quota, captures to date have seen juvenile capture at 8 percent of the total.
“Biomass is completely healthy – the low amount of juveniles is proof of that,” she said.
Last season, when Imarpe conducted a biological-fishery expedition survey of anchovy in the area between Chicama and Ilo, it confirmed that juveniles reached 97.8 percent in number and 78.9 percent in weight.
That finding led PRODUCE to declare a premature close mid-January to the anchovy fishing season in the country’s north-central region, also following heated protests from the country’s local fishermen over what they argued was a failure by the ministry to protect the country’s anchovy resources. During that season fishing, firms caught only a fraction of the 2.7 million MT limit established by PRODUCE.
However, fishing companies have had smoother sailing during the current season. Pablo Trapunsky, CEO of Peruvian fishing firm Pesquera Diamante, previously told SeafoodSource that the company had already reached its quota on 4 July.
Photo courtesy of Peru’s National Fisheries Society
