326 Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture – Practices, sustainability and implications
SUMMARY
This paper examines the current status of the Peruvian small pelagic fisheries, including the
stocks, landings, fishing areas and seasons, infrastructure, fish utilization, nutritional value
of resources (particularly of anchoveta, Engraulis ringens) and the position of the national
fisheries within the international context. The fishing fleet – small– and large–scale – and
the processing activities for food and feedfish products are also reviewed.
Besides a brief description of the current fishery policies and a profile of the main
institutions that form part of the fisheries sector, several aspects of the national fish
product consumption and the main product exports are examined. The study highlights
the importance of Peruvian production of fishmeal in world trade, as well as the potential
for using the current resource of small pelagic fish for food fish products for internal and
external markets. Proposals for newly developed products made from anchoveta are also
described.
The economic and social implications of using a small proportion of the Peruvian
anchovy catch as foodfish are assessed, including the impact that it would have on food
security, value addition, manual labour supply and general poverty alleviation.
The review then describes the characteristics of the fishery in Chimbote City – the
main fishing port in Peru, located on the northwestern coast – where the largest anchoveta
landings occur and are used for the reduction and direct human consumption.
The history of the fishmeal industry, its peak years, and the problems in and limitations of
catching and utilizing anchovy for different purposes, including direct human consumption,
are described. The results of a series of interviews with artisanal fishers, processors and
other professionals of the sector are presented in a case study in an attempt to gain a real
understanding of the problems facing the pelagic fishery in the port of Chimbote, as well
as the development potential of the fishery in the short and medium terms.
It concludes that the abundant anchoveta resource could contribute to easing some of
the nutritional problems of Peru and the immediate region. However, achieving this goal
will require improvements in landing infrastructure, renovation of processing plants and
the development of a market that is able to repay the value of such a commercially and
nutritionally valuable resource.