Fishing is the third most important activity contributing to Peru’s GDP after mining and agriculture. Therefore, the Peruvian government is seeking to stimulate products in the industry such as tuna. Peru’s vice minister for fisheries and aquaculture Hector Soldi told that the tuna industry is growing steadily and that the port of Paita does not have the capacity to cover the demand. In response, Peru will be launching two new ports for tuna production by the end of the year. The first one is located in Coishco, Chimbote and the second one in Callao, Lima.
During the first two months of 2017, canned tuna exports rose 141% year-on-year to 764,543 metric tonnes. Tuna is expected to be a crucial product in the fishery sector growth. “We expect that the fishery sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP will rise 36% year-on-year in 2017,” Soldi said.
Another measure taken by Peru’s government is the reduction of fees for the international fishers, from US$100 to US$65 in order to promote foreign investment.
Tuna landings into Peru rose significantly earlier this year and are expected to be even higher next season between November-March, said Soldi. "Next season we expect a much larger fleet of ships coming into the Peruvian coast,"
Foreign tuna fishing vessels are also obliged by a new measure to land 30% of their catch at Peruvian ports, in order to stimulate processing or pre-processing activity in Peru. As a result of this measure, there are some companies that are interested in opening new factories in Peru, Soldi said, pointing out that the rule aimed to stimulate employment in Peruvian coastal areas. Foreign vessels, particularly from Mexico and Ecuador, fish in Peruvian waters.
The 2.8 million metric tonnes of quota for the first anchovy fishing season in center-northern Peru was set based on the Institute of the Peruvian Sea Imarpe's recommendation. Last year's first fishing season quota of 1.8m metric tonnes was a "conservative" decision aimed at keeping a large portion of juveniles in the water so that they could reproduce, Soldi said.
According to Imarpe's recommendation, there were 9m metric tonnes of anchovy in the water, Soldi said, stressing that the government wanted to keep at least 6m metric tonnes in the water, also in precaution of the possibility of another El Nino in the second part of the year. "We were worried that El Nino Costero would impact the anchovy biomass", but, because it was localised in northern Peru and the rest of the coast was relatively cold, the anchovy was able to reproduce in other areas, Soldi noted. 2.8m metric tonnes will be very good for the industry and very good for the sustainability of the resource, Soldi said. His words were echoed by the statement of the Peruvian minister of production, Bruno Giuffra Monteverde.
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