Peru's Congress overwhelmingly agreed on 17 October to allow the “legitimate use of force” by its armed forces to combat illicit maritime activities.
The legislative initiative, proposed by conservative legislator José Cueto, a retired admiral of the Peruvian Navy, received 100 votes in favor and two abstentions in the plenary of Congress.
According to Peruvian Head of the Congressional Committee for National Defense, Internal Order, Alternative Development, and the Fight Against Drugs Adriana Tudela the newly approved legislation serves to fill a gap in the country’s existing law governing the national maritime authority (DICAPI).
“The purpose [of DICAPI] is to combat, for example, problems such as illegal fishing and promote the detection of foreign vessels in the Peruvian sea that do not have the corresponding authorizations,” Tudela said.
Congressional approval came after several days of union protest throughout the country's ports. Fishers, mainly of jumbo flying squid, have voiced concern that the resource is scarce due to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activity from Chinese fleets in the Peruvian sea.
Some authorities have blamed climate change for the decrease in giant squid fishing, but in June, Peru’s Production Ministry (PRODUCE) announced it was preparing a decree that aims to strengthen the country’s fight against IUU fishing by foreign vessels in Peruvian waters.
The resulting decree is meant to control the entry of foreign vessels into Peruvian ports, and requires any foreign vessel looking to enter Peru to have a government-sanctioned satellite-tracking device onboard and activated, regardless of the reason for its entry.
PRODUCE also previously announced it is making arrangements to acquire two new maritime patrol boats with a budget of PEN 27.5 million (USD 7.3 million, EUR 6.8 million), which will be added to the country's existing fleet of four patrollers acquired between 2021 and 2023 under an agreement with the Peruvian Navy.
Though PRODUCE announced it was making moves to combat IUU fishing, in a recent joint session of the National Defense and Production Committees several legislators and former government officials were highly critical of …
