Peru’s anchovy landings in its second season totaled 2.05 million tons through 10 January, 2019, which surpasses the average landings over the last three years by 63 percent, according to Peru’s National Society of Fisheries (SNP).
In a statement, the SNP confirmed the total landings, and its president, Elena Conterno, said that 0.04 percent of the quota for industrial fishers remains, along with 2.1 percent of the quota for the fishery’s contingency reserve and unmarked vessels.
The SNP reported that the catch of young fish below the minimum size represented a small percentage of the catch, as the resources mas mostly adult, with sizes between 14 to 14.5 centimeters.
“This second season, just like the first, has benefited the sea ingredients industry, and therefore the economies of costal cities. This is due to good availability of anchovy resources, responsible fishing that has been carried out for years using industrial ships, as well as the climatic conditions,” Conterno added.
Peru’s Ministry of Production had allowed a quota of 2.1 million metric tons (MT) for the second season in the north-central zone, which the statement shows a recovery compared to previous years. The average quota for the last three years has been 1.5 million MT.
In a separate statement, the SNP warned that the southern region of the country has been hampered by the elimination of a Special Fishing Regime (REP) that allowed ships to fish closer to the shore. Since its elimination in 2012, the SNP says that landings in the area have fallen from 670,000 MT to 270,000 MT.
Moreover, the SNP said that in northern Chile, which shares the same resource, has seen its landings increase, according to a Macroconsult report commissioned by the SNP. Conterno said that in Chile the geography is similar, but that vessels are allowed in some places to fish from the first mile offshore.
Since this regulatory change, the SNP estimates that “(anchovy) fishing in the south of Peru has been 50 percent lower than in the north of Chile since 2012, even as much as 67 percent [less] in the years 2013 and 2017,” the statement said.
The SNP warned that the situation has also had a negative effect on artisan fishers, who were supposed to be the main beneficiaries of the move to push industrial boats out to five miles offshore. But the artisan fleet has not increased its catch after the regulatory change. To the contrary, the elimination of the REP also meant a reduction in funds for these segment of smaller boats, and the local economy, the SNP reported.
Photo courtesy of SNP
