• In the country there is a regulation on the minimum legal size for catching anchovy, linked to the maturity of the species.
Southern Peru stopped exporting US$594 million in fishmeal and fish oil due to delays in updating the maturity size of anchovy, according to the study “Economic impact of anchovy fishery management in the southern zone” presented today the consulting firm Macroconsult.
In the country there is a regulation on the minimum legal catch size of anchovy, linked to the maturity of the species. Currently, the rule states that the anchovy reaches maturity when it measures 12 centimeters. However, according to the Peruvian Sea Institute (IMARPE), in the southern part of the country, the maturity size of the anchovy is 10.5 cm.
The problem is that, by classifying anchovies as juveniles up to 12 cm, as in the central-northern area, fishing activity in southern Peru is harmed, which could fish this resource from 10.5 cm.
According to the Macroconsult study, if the classification of juvenile anchovies were as indicated by IMARPE, an additional 963,000 tons of anchovy would have been landed between 2016 and 2023. In addition, 233,000 tons of fishmeal and 24,000 tons of fish oil would have been produced. . That is, exports worth US$594 million have been lost.
“We must discuss again the issue of the maturity of the anchovy, whether it is 12 cm or 10.5 cm, as IMARPE says, because an added value is being lost that no one recovers. Updating the size of the anchovy basically involves an interaction between public entities: IMARPE and the Ministry of Production,” said economist Elmer Cuba, partner of Macroconsult.
The impact of this difference in catch size does not stop there. This situation has negatively impacted employment in southern Peru, since 459 jobs and S/ 22 million in salaries have not been generated between 2016 and 2023.
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– 2024-04-29 00:53:11
