Peru is one of the main fishing countries globally and plays a fundamental role in feeding the world. This was stated by Manuel Barange, director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division and deputy director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“Peru is the fourth largest producer of seafood products globally, as a country. “75% of that catch is anchovy,” said Barange in statements for the documentary Leading the Way, which is part of Ocean Titans, an official series of the World Ocean Council (WOC) that has been spread on different platforms worldwide.
LOOK: The socio-environmental commitment of fishing
“This brings approximately US$ 4 billion to the country, so Peru is not only an important country in terms of fishing, but industrial fishing is actually a very important activity,” he stressed.
The documentary also explains that, according to the FAO, around 750 million people go hungry every day in the world; and, more than 4 billion (40% of the global population) do not have access to a healthy diet.
“At FAO we estimate that 600 million people depend on fishing and aquaculture for their livelihood. So we need to ensure its sustainability,” said Barange.
According to the FAO senior executive, in the 1960s, the annual consumption of aquatic products per inhabitant was 9 kilos; while currently this consumption is 20.7 kilos. This means that fishing and aquaculture, which uses anchovy meal as the main food, have been seen as a solution to feeding the world. In addition, he highlighted that fishing has a much lower environmental impact than livestock production, among other industries.
The documentary Leading the Way, which is now available on YouTube, also has the participation of the National Fisheries Society (SNP), through its president, Eduardo Ferreyros, and its general manager, Jorge Risi, who announce that in recent years the companies associated with said union have invested more than US$500 million in technological innovation to reduce the environmental impact of their anchovy processing plants.
Also included is the appreciation of marine biologist Ray Hilborn, professor at the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington, in the United States, who points out that there are many things that the fishing industries of other countries should learn from Peruvian fishing. anchovy, such as the establishment of quotas through research cruises.
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