With a state that favors competition and unlocks current obstacles, Peru’s fishing sector could double exports from their 2019 levels, according to President of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee at Peru’s National Society of Industries (SNI) Alfonso Miranda Eyzaguirre.
Eyzaguirre was elected to his post at the end of June.
“Other neighboring countries beat us in this field, despite the fact that Peru has one of the richest seas in the world,” he said, speaking to local media. “We will constantly work on proposing solutions; We will not just sit and complain.”
Peru increased fishing exports for human consumption 2.4 times between 2010 and 2019, and the fishing sector may be one of the main engines of economic reactivation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted.
"In the last decade, fishery and aquaculture exports for human consumption went from USD 644 million [EUR 569 million] in 2010 to USD 1.59 billion [EUR 1.40 billion] in 2019, reaching 11.4 percent of total non-traditional exports from Peru,” Miranda Eyzaguirre said.
Fishing for human consumption went from 25.3 percent of total fishing sector exports in 2010, including fishmeal and fish oil, to 45 percent in 2019, Miranda Eyzaguirre added, and the idea is to continue contributing to Peru's food security based on the sustainable use of resources while also promoting decentralized work in the country.
He highlighted the fact the sector generates direct employment for 150,000 Peruvians, "in addition to contributing 45 percent of foreign commerce in exports and more than 600 million kilos of fish consumed in the country."
Previously, the executive had decried unregulated fishing of squid in Peruvian waters by Asian fleets coming from China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia, which he called “predatory.”
For several years, he has called on the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) and Peru’s Sea Institute (Imarpe) to realize at least one scientific cruise a year to specifically estimate the squid biomass – as is done with anchovy – and to determine the location of the resource in the different coastal areas due to its migratory nature.
“As long as there is no scientific support of these estimates, it is risky to talk about underdevelopment of the resource," Miranda Eyzaguirre told Europa Azul.
The head of the SNI Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee recalled that squid is the second-most important fishing resource in Peru and the top one for human consumption, representing approximately 40 percent of sector exports.
Photo courtesy of Peru anchoveta Sociedad Nacional de Pesqueria
