Anchovy capture. (Photo: Produce)
PERUTuesday, October 08, 2013, 03:00 (GMT + 9)
The head of the Ministry of Production (Produce), Gladys Triveño, announced that the anchovy biomass is recovering and that up to September 2013 it reached 2.1 million tonnes.
According to the minister, this result was achieved thanks to the fisheries management undertaken by the Government.
Triveño said that the scientific research surveys conducted by experts from the Instituto del Mar del Peru (Imarpe) reported that the biomass of the pelagic resource in the north-central area was 10,273,433 tonnes and in the southern zone it was 1,874,624 tonnes.
"The results of these surveys show that the anchovy situation is better than it was a year ago due to fisheries management," she added.
In addition, she recalled that before starting the fisheries management last year, it only recorded an anchovy biomass of 5.3 million tonnes in the northern-central zone of Peru.
The minister highlighted that in 2012 "very little biomass" was found, forcing the Ministry to reduce the quota quite a lot. "The recovery process has cost the Ministry a lot but we will continue on that path," he ensured.
To Produce, it is necessary "to continue with a precautionary approach at capture level because it has been confirmed that there is one age group that will support the capture activity [specimens being 1.5 years old] in the northern-central area."
In addition, in the northern-central area 82.29 per cent of the biomass is found outside the 10 mile, and outside the mile 7 it is 73 per cent of the biomass determined in the southern zone.
"The two most important indicators of the reproductive activity of the north-central stock show levels that are above the critical values so the priority is to protect the anchovy reproductive process and the juvenile specimens," the ministry stated in a press release.
The main objective is "to ensure the sustainability of the stock and its fishery," Produce stated.
Finally, on the survey the group born during the 2013 summer reproductive process was not observed (06-08cm LT, six months of age), or any significant abundance of individuals born during the winter 2012 (12cm LT, a year of age).