CalCOFI Reports, Vol. 11, 1967 - California Cooperative Oceanic ...

_________--_____REPORTS VOLUJIE SI, 1 JULY 1963 TO 30 JUNE 1966 63able to overcome. To a large extent, this is the situationwhich prevails along a large segment of Peru’ssouth coast, particularly from Pisco to Camanii; andmany of the resident fishermen of the area have littlemore than risen above the economic status of fishingfor their own nutritive sustenance. By contrast, thecentral and northern sections of the coast are betterendowed to meet the requisites of fishermen in thepursuit of their trade; and here is where the bestfishing harbours have been developed (although stilldeficient in facilities) , and where the largest numberof processing plants and concentrations of fishermenare to be found.The influence of the characteristics of the coast onfishery exploitation is of course linked with the availabilityof the resource and the nearness of fishinggrounds. Traditionally, Peru’s fishery is inshore. Exceptfor a limited number of vessels that occasionallypursue tuna in its offshore or deep sea habitat, fishingis confined to the continental shelf. And since thisshelf varies greatly in width from north to south, itis not surprising that the greatest fishery concentrationoccurred in the shelf’s widest zones, namely, thecentral and northern areas. (In the extreme north,around Punta Folsa, the shelf is 5 nautical miles widewhile in the south, around Punta Pescadores andPunta Islay, its width is but 2 to 3 miles. Betweenthese extreme points, the shelf varies greatly in width,reaching a maximum of 70 miles in and around SechuraBay.)While fishermen are largely concentrated in thecentral and northern sections of the coast, with fisheryexploitation also centered in these areas, there isconsiderable movement of fishermen and boats to theSouthern Region at certain seasons of the year. Fishing,therefore, is not regional-it takes place in varyingdegrees of intensity along the entire shore.LANDINGS AND PROSPECTSAccording to the Fisheries Direction of the Ministryof Agriculture, total registered landings of fish andshellfish in 1963 amounted to 6,794,408 metric tons.In order of importance the principal species whichfeatured in this catch were :AnchovetaBonitoBarrileteAtdnCaballaMacheteLornaCojinobaTolloCabrillaCorvinaEngraulis ringens (Jenyns) _-__-_ 6,634,835.8Sarda chilensis(Cuvier and Valenciennes) _____ 90,652.9Xatsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus) __ 16,911.3Neothunnus macropterus(Schlegel) _____ ~~~~ ~~~_ 11,230.8Pneunzatophorus peruanus(Jordan and Hubbs) _-________ 7,911.4Ethmidium chilcae (Hildebrand) __ 7,863.0Sciaena deliciosa (Tschudi) ______ 7,184.3Neptomenus crassus (Starks) _ _ ~ _ 6,126.4Mustelus mento (Cope) ~ 4,333.731. nzaculatus (Kner and8 teindnchner)M. dorsalis (Gill)Paralabram callaensis (Stark) ~~~- 3,850.3Sciaena gilberti (Abbott) ~ ~ ~ _ ~ _ 3,508.2 _ _6,794,408.1Other species, more than 50’ in number, accountedfor less than 27,000 tons.The preponderance of the anchovy in the abovestatistics is obvious without scrutiny. It representsmore than 97% of total landings (for conversion intofish meal and oil), leaving less than 3% for humanfood use. Indications are that this pattern will notchange appreciably in the immediate future-theanchoveta fishing fleet is expanding, the country’sfish meal production capacity is being increased,either through new plant construction or extension,and little is in sight by way of development in othersectors of the fishing industry.The rapid pace at which the anchoveta fishery developedfrom 1955 on did not permit growth accordingto those criteria considered most consistent withrational exploitation. The main emphasis was on quickinvestment, production and sale, which was feasibleand quite understandably pursued in the natural andinstitutional environment which prevailed-an obviouslyimmense resource, nearly ideal fishing conditions(closeness to grounds and good weather), freeentry into the industry, and a favourable and growingmarket. In the circumstances, expansion in the firstphase of development proceeded without much concernover the effects of the fishing pressure on theanchoveta stock.Gradually, preoccupation developed over the limitsof expansion, and a marine research institute wasestablished in 1960 with the principal aim of studyingthe anchoveta resource and the complex of biological,oceanographic, technological and economic factors affectingconditions of catch and utilization. Thesestudies are continuing, with primary emphasis onbiology and oceanography, because of industry demandsfor better knowledge of the resource. Thisalone, of course, will not suffice for a complete rationalizationof operations. More attention must be givento the technological and economic aspects of thefishery.Apart from the anchoveta fishery, the best prospectsfor expansion or development appear to be inthe exploitation of mullet and certain pelagic species,such as bonito, herring, mackerel and sardine. Somebottom fish may also be exploited more extensivelyas the Government directs more attention to meetingsome of the country’s protein requirements. The needwith respect to the expansion of these relativelyminor fisheries centers principally in the delimitationof resource distribution and in improving thetechnology and economics of operation.STATISTICAL TRENDS IN THE ANCHOVYFISHERYThe fishing events presented graphically in theappended diagrams are largely self-explanatory. Onlyshort comments are therefore given here.Development of the IndustryBasic information on the development of the anchovyfishery in Peru is given in Tables 1 and 2.Here are recorded the number of fishermen, number