Fisherman’s Day: what is the greatest current difficulty of artisanal fishing in Peru?

On the occasion of Fisherman’s Day, the president of the Federation of Selective Artisanal Fishing Organizations Tumbes Region, Miguel Martínez; and the former general secretary of the Single Union of Artisanal Fishermen Civil Divers of the Port of Ilo (SUPABCPI), Isaac Tapia; analyzed in Saturday Focus the current situation of artisanal fishing and its problems.

Need for regulation of Law 31749

Isaac Tapia said that the current political situation in the fishing industry is a cause for great concern, as the regulations of Law 31749, which recognizes traditional ancestral fishing and traditional artisanal fishing and promotes their preservation within the five Peruvian nautical miles, have not yet been published.

“To date, its regulations have not been issued, which would allow us to somehow strengthen this law and we consider this a good opportunity to be recognized as artisanal fishermen,” he indicated.

The former leader denounced that there are vessels with a greater draft than the artisanal fishermen’s vessels that have managed to obtain double permits. This, he stated, allows them not only to capture anchovy, but also other species such as mackerel, horse mackerel and bonito, which causes “unfair competition.”

“This Law 31749 creates an opportunity to have a regulation on fishing matters at the national level. So, the regulations will not only allow us to solve the issue of the fishing effort that artisanal fishermen are having at the national level, but it will also to somehow direct attention to human capital, which we are doing little or nothing at all,” he expressed.

Ban on hammerhead shark capture

Miguel Martínez also expressed his concern about the lack of the aforementioned regulation of Law 31749 which, as he highlighted, protects resources and classifies vessels to identify the true artisanal fisherman. For this reason, he asked the Minister of Production, Sergio Gonzáles, and the President of the Republic to approve the aforementioned document as soon as possible.

“We are concerned because this truly must stop, a fight of more than twenty years for the five miles to be respected and the resources to be protected because it is the only source of work. But possibly there are other interests in the political sphere that threaten artisanal fishermen. ancestral so that this regulation of the law is not given, just as bills have been presented to fish within five miles. This is counterproductive,” he said.

In addition, the fishermen’s leader also asked the Minister of Production to lift the ban on the capture of the hammerhead shark that is currently abundant in Piura and Tumbes, since it forces workers to throw this species into the sea to prevent the Police from arrested for ecological crime.

“The quota has already been closed, 470 tons, which the southern fishery closed immediately and we have only fished approximately 11 tons in this quota. Today, with this La Niña phenomenon that is occurring, we already have this species of six to seven kilos up to ten kilos and it is unfortunate that we have to lower it hidden because it is the only species that is entering, because the tuno is going to move away. So, you have to consider it because we are a border zone,” he explained.