{"id":28116,"date":"2023-09-28T13:33:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T17:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/?p=28116"},"modified":"2025-04-30T09:48:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T13:48:29","slug":"protecting-perus-coastline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/protecting-perus-coastline\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Peru’s Coastline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Artisanal fishers achieve a victory that will support generations to come <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Armando Paiva grew up fishing in Piura, Peru, like his father and grandfather. Full of vibrant marine life and commercially important fish like anchoveta, the first five nautical miles off Peru\u2019s coast cover a vast, biodiverse area important to artisanal fishers, who provide 80% of the fish that feeds Peru\u2019s population. But much can change in a generation. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A
About 400 tons of jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) are caught by a Chilean purse seiner. \u00a9 Oceana<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Fishing vessels now lower weighted nets close to the coast, unselectively scooping up fish and risking damage to the seafloor in the process. While sometimes the catch is destined for Peruvian plates, other times it is bound for processing plants, where the fish are ground into fishmeal and shipped to foreign countries as feed for livestock and farmed fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Paiva is a board member of the El Toril Artisanal Fishermen\u2019s Union in Piura, and his career involves not only fishing but advocating on behalf of artisanal fishers in his community and building alliances with others across the country. Their goal: strengthen Peru\u2019s General Fisheries Law to preserve their livelihoods, communities, and the health of the ocean. Their opposition: an industrial fishing industry with deep pockets and equally deep political ties. Yet, thanks to the resolve of Peru\u2019s artisanal fishers and Oceana\u2019s legal support, the tide has finally turned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE SEA AT STAKE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Peru\u2019s coastline stretches over 3,000 kilometers (nearly 2,000 miles). And whether you\u2019re at the warm beaches of Piura in northern Peru, or the port of Matarani in the south, the waters closest to the coast are especially vital to the health of ocean ecosystems and local fisheries. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n\n

These \u201cfirst five miles\u201d \u2014 shorthand for the massive zone that extends five nautical miles (about 5.8 miles or 9.3 kilometers) from the coast \u2014 are as captivating as they are important. Covering about 24,755 square kilometers (9,558 square miles), this coastal zone is home to abundant marine life. Here green sea turtles sail through schools of fish while seahorses cling to seagrass with their tails. Sting rays circle coral reefs, home to octopuses, anemones, and nudibranchs \u2014 or sea slugs, as they\u2019re often called \u2014 whose soft bodies mirror their vibrant surroundings with designs fit for fine art. Oceana\u2019s science and audiovisual team saw all of this and more during a December 2022 expedition off Peru\u2019s northern coast. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A
A school of three-banded butterflyfish swim near a coral reef in the first five nautical miles off the coast of Peru. \u00a9 Oceana\/Eduardo Sorensen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The first five miles \u201care likely more significant for biodiversity than any other coastal zone,\u201d argues Juan Carlos Riveros, Oceana\u2019s Science Director in Peru. Because the seafloor throughout the first five miles is generally within light\u2019s reach, plants like seaweed and kelp flourish. And these plants provide handy havens for fish to hide or disguise themselves, which is key for young fish to survive and fisheries to stay healthy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This stretch of sea serves as the reproductive zone for Peruvian anchoveta, the largest single-species fishery in the world. Anchoveta is a nutrient-rich protein source, and despite much of it being used to make fishmeal \u2014 which is then used for aquafeed, or in products like fish oil supplements \u2014 it\u2019s increasingly being canned or consumed fresh, including in Peru\u2019s artisanal fishing communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most artisanal fishers, Riveros says, sail small boats, no more than 30 feet long, to catch anchoveta and other fish close to the coast. They use gear like hand-held nets and lines. \u201cIt\u2019s very selective \u2014 you take what you want, and put the others back,\u201d Riveros explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial fishers, on the other hand, operate with an unselective, take-all approach that uses mechanized fishing gear called  \u201cpurse seines\u201d \u2014 weighted nets that surround a school of fish, capturing the fish and sometimes other creatures that happen to be in the way. Many small to medium-sized boats claim the name \u201cartisanal,\u201d but use purse seines instead of artisanal, hand-operated fishing gear, causing harm to both ocean ecosystems and artisanal fishers\u2019 livelihoods as a result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During dozens of workshops Oceana hosted along Peru\u2019s coast, artisanal fishers discussed how to update Peru\u2019s General Fisheries Law to shore up protections. Two changes were needed: One, industrial fishers must be prohibited from entering the first five miles, no exceptions. And two: Only artisanal fishers should have access to the three miles closest to the coast. These changes would go an especially long way in Peru\u2019s southern regions, where Peru\u2019s government had repeatedly authorized exceptions for large industrial vessels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peru\u2019s Congress would need some persuading. And artisanal fishers would be the ones to do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Fishers<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n
Most artisanal fishers sail small boats, no more than 30 feet long, to catch anchoveta and other fish close to the coast using selective gear like hand-held nets and lines.<\/em> \u00a9 Oceana\/Andre Baertschi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ALL PATHS LEAD TO LIMA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Legislative change rarely succeeds on the first try. Before artisanal fishers, Oceana, and other allies took their proposal to Peru\u2019s Congress, other attempts had already been made to rewrite or revamp the General Fisheries Law to better protect artisanal fishing communities and the country\u2019s oceans, but this one seemed best timed and positioned for success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put to an initial vote, Peru\u2019s Congress voted in favor of the updated protections \u2014 but without the supermajority required by Peruvian law. That meant a second, and final, vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up against a powerful industry, Peru\u2019s artisanal fishers were historically overruled or unconsidered. Undeterred, they bussed approximately 18 hours from their coastal hometowns to the capital. Ten fishing leaders from across the country, including Paiva, arrived in Lima to give communities like theirs a fighting chance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The industrial fishing industry was armed with a formidable public relations guild and a reliable, go-to argument: industrial fishing provides jobs. Technical cases about the damage wrought by fishing gear would not be convincing enough \u2014 so the fishers told their stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day of the vote, the fishers \u201cchased congresspeople around the building,\u201d remembers Carmen Heck Franco, Oceana\u2019s Policy Director in Peru, with a laugh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fishers listened to congresspeoples’ concerns and refuted industry arguments. They told Congress members how they wanted their grandchildren to be fishers someday, but worried that with few fish in the sea they\u2019d end up hungry. Their arguments were convincing. Even one staunchly opposed congressman came around to their side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, industry members could tell the fishers were making waves. Their new strategy: postpone the vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A\n
<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An artisanal fisher uses a hand-held “curtain net” as he fishes off the coast of Ica, a city in Southern Peru. \u00a9 Oceana\/Andre Baertschi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PUT IT TO A VOTE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not only was the industrial fishing industry\u2019s attempt to delay the vote unsuccessful \u2014 officials ushered the artisanal fishing leaders into Congress\u2019 auditorium to witness the final vote. While the fishers sat in the balcony, the president of Congress saluted them for coming. After Congress members debated, the time to vote had come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vote was unanimous: The protections passed, with those against abstaining altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many of the artisanal fishers, this victory seemed too good to be true. For years, their voices had been drowned out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, the law is important because it vindicates ancestral rights for artisanal fishers. We have regained control of the five miles of the biodiversity of that zone,\u201d says Juan Moina, regional coordinator and former president of an artisanal fishing federation in Peru\u2019s Arequipa region. \u201cThe unity of the leaders at a national level has obtained results…and we have managed to achieve better living conditions for artisanal fishers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law supports fishing that is \u201ccarried out with respect for nature,\u201d Paiva told reporters, \u201c…and to carry [it] out as an artisan does: with selective nets, respecting the fishing zones, the natural banks, the reproduction seasons of the resources and the closed seasons.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the new law in place, any vessel that has more than 32.6 metric tons of whole capacity \u2014 that is, an industrial vessel \u2014 must fish outside the five miles, no exceptions. Any mechanized purse seiner, no matter the size, is prohibited within three nautical miles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As directed by the law, Peru\u2019s fishing authority will approve a list of the allowable fishing gear safe for ocean habitat throughout the coastal zone. Partnering with Oceana, artisanal fishing leaders are drafting bylaws so the protections can be practically implemented across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This victory not only marks a milestone for Peru\u2019s fishing communities and seas, but for artisanal fishers around the world who are mobilizing to defend their livelihoods and their oceans from the threats they face every day. In Brazil, 150 artisanal fishing leaders drafted a bill proposal to modernize the country\u2019s fisheries policy. In the Philippines, fisherwomen are building a coalition to speak up to the challenges they face. In Mexico, Oceana is partnering with the fishing community of El Cuyo in Yucatan to create a no-take zone to conserve marine ecosystems and local lobster fishing livelihoods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Wilfredo Su\u00e1rez Morales, the co-coordinator for a sustainable artisanal fishing network in Peru\u2019s provinces of Huacho and Huaral, puts it, \u201cIf we, the artisanal fishers, work together, thinking of future generations, I\u2019m sure that we will all win, and we will have marine resources and a stable economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artisanal fishers achieve a victory that will support generations to come  Armando Paiva grew up fishing in Piura, Peru, like his father and grandfather. Full of vibrant marine life and commercially important fish like anchoveta, the first five nautical miles off Peru\u2019s coast cover a vast, biodiverse area important to artisanal fishers, who provide 80% … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":538,"featured_media":28124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"location":[],"expedition":[],"campaign":[],"ppma_author":[352],"class_list":["post-28116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","infinite-scroll-item"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProtecting Peru's Coastline | Oceana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Peru\u2019s coastline stretches over 3,000 kilometers. 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