From research
to development
For sustainable fishing in Peru
To preserve fish resources, the Peruvian government has been using adaptive
management of marine resources. The development of this effective management
model has benefited from a strong partnership between the IRD and the Peruvian
Institute of the Sea (IMARPE).
The crisis of the 1970s
Thanks to the Humboldt Current1, which flows along
its coasts from north to south, Peru’s waters are richer in fish than any others on the planet. Last century, its industrial fleet expanded greatly. Anchovy
fishing in particular became central to the country’s
economy2. The fishery and the fish-meal factories
were thriving, with 10 to 12 million metric tons of
Anchovy fishing in Peru (IRD/P. Fréon
fish caught each year, when an especially strong
El Niño phenomenon occurred in 1972, increasing
the temperature of the coastal waters. This episode,
This crisis made the government thenceforth aware
in conjunction with an unfavourable climatic cycle,
of the importance of controlled management of the
accelerated the decline of the anchovy stock, which
resource. It therefore turned to researchers at the
took over ten years to recover.
Peruvian Institute of the Sea (Instituto del Mar del
Perú - IMARPE) and put in place an adaptive management system as well as global fishing quotas,
limiting the quantity of fish caught. Thanks to this
policy, the 1997-98 occurrence of El Niño and the
most recent in 2015-2016, caused only a temporary
decline of fish biomass.
Strengthening the scientific ranks
In the early 2000s, the IRD began working with the
IMARPE to strengthen the human and scientific
means devoted to using the data collected on the
evolution of the marine ecosystem. This partnership
brings together around twenty French researchers,
as well as dozens of partners, and has helped to
create two university programmes. In 2010, the IRD
and the IMARPE created the international mixed laboratory on «the Dynamics of the Humboldt current
system» with four other partners from the region.
The
integrated,
multidisciplinary
«from-wind-to-
plate» approach, bringing together oceanographers,
biogeochemists, modellers, ecologists and fishery
managers, has improved understanding of how the
Humboldt current works3. In particular, the study
showed the impact of anchovy catch on the whole
ecosystem, and the longer-term effect of climate
change on fish productivity.
Anchovies canning factory in Peru (IRD/P. Fréon)
Adjusting the measures in real time
In 2009, to avoid a race to equip ships4, rather than
setting an annual quota for the whole profession, the
Peruvian Fisheries Ministry began attributing individual quotas to each company. The State now practices adaptive management of fishery resources.
To readjust the quotas over the course of the year,
scientists reassess the fish biomass every three
months during the fishing season.
1. This «upwelling» system causes deep, cold, nutrient-rich waters to rise.
2. The fish is essentially processed into oil and fish-meal, which are exported for aquaculture and poultry farming.
3. Arnaud Bertrand et al. The Northern Humboldt Current System: Ocean
Dynamics, Ecosystem Processes, and Fisheries, Progress in Oceanogra-
phy, 2008, 79 (special issue 2-4), p. 208-214.
4. Over the last twenty years, the total catch capacity of the Peruvian fleet
Partners
has increased from 86 to 170 million metric tons.
International Affairs Service
Benoît Martimort-Asso : +33 (0)4 91 99 93 31
Peruvian Institute of the Sea (IMARPE),
Peruvian Geophysics Institute (IGP), Peruvian
National Meteorology And Hydrology Service
(SENAMHI), Peruana Cayetano Heredia
University (UPCH), National University of San
Marcos (UNMSM).
Contacts
benoit.martimort-asso@ird.fr
44 boulevard de Dunkerque
CS 90009
13572 Marseille Cedex 02
France
www.ird.fr
© IRD/DCPI, mars 2016 - Conception et réalisation graphique : L. CORSINI
Oceanographic campaign in Peru (IRD/A. Bertrand)