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Oceana report presentation on the illegal fishmeal production.
OCEANA denounces illegal use of anchovy to produce fishmeal
PERU
Thursday, February 14, 2019, 22:30 (GMT + 9)
The marine conservation organization OCEANA denounces the illegal diversion of some 150,000 tonnes of anchovy destined for human consumption per year to illegally process fishmeal, one of Peru's main export products.
Oceana denounces that some 150,000 tonnes of "direct human consumption" anchovy per year are used for fishmeal production.
The NGO carried out a study to diagnose the state of fishmeal illegal processing in Peru, supply flows and commercialization. The research included interviews with 27 key stakeholders in the sector and a fieldwork, and identified between January and April 2018, 62 production centers suspected of producing illegal fishmeal on the north and central coast.
In Pisco, 10 illegal fishmeal plants were detected.
These centers are divided into three types:
- Illegal plants: They operate without any type of authorization, they buy anchovy directly from artisanal and smaller scale fleet. There are 10 plants concentrated in Pisco.
- Residual fishmeal and waste processing plants: They divert fresh anchovy from the CHD plants to produce illegal fishemal, they also buy anchovy from artisanal and smaller scale fleet. There are 25 distributed in Piura, Ancash, Lima and Callao.
- Drying Pampas: They buy surplus waste from the CHD plants and acquire anchovy from artisanal and smaller scale fleet when there is oversupply. There are 10 in Pisco, and 14 in Ancash.
"This is a problem that inhibits innovation, generates serious damage to the economy, the environment and the sustainability of marine resources," said OCEANA Peru Fisheries Director, Juan Carlos Sueiro, who stressed that each year an average of 150,000 tonnes of fresh anchovy are deviated.
In its report, entitled Illegal production of fishmeal in Peru, the NGO emphasizes that between 2014 and 2016, 90,000 tonnes of illegal fishmeal were produced throughout Peru, according to the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP. It also reveals that the annual production of Pisco's illegal plants amounts to USD 32 million, and that only five curing companies export 46.5 percent of the national total.
OCEANA estimates the annual production of the 10 illegal production centers located in Pisco at 22,000 tonnes. However, it points out that it has not yet been possible to estimate the production of the residual fishmeal plants that illegally process prime fishmeal, nor has it been possible to estimate the drying pampas production with the information collected in this study. Therefore, it postulates that the total annual production of fishmeal from fresh anchovy caught by artisanal and smaller scale fleet in the country would be much higher.
The marine conservation organization recommends four main areas to deal with the fishmeal illegal production, an activity that generates serious damage to the economy and the environment.
These axes are: control over anchovy supply, control over production, control over commercialization and structural improvements of the institutions.
This research presentation was discussed by a panel of sector experts integrated by José Romero Glenny, director of Supervision, Supervision and Sanction of the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE); Elena Conterno, president of the National Fisheries Society (SNP), and Magaly Ávila, director of Environmental Governance of Proética.
Fishing vessels purse seiners that are used for fishing for anchovy. (Photo: OCEANA)
These specialists agreed that it is necessary to strengthen the landing control until commercialization, involving institutions with complementary competencies to PRODUCE, such as SUNAT, the Environmental Prosecutor's Office and Regional Governments, among others.
They also recognized the need to apply a traceability system that allows for the collation of fishing permits, places and volumes of catch, and to promote transparency through online information, free access to the public, and channels for reporting.
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