The fishing rights for anchovy catch only represents 27 per cent of the contributions made by the marine ingredients industry (fishmeal and fish oil) to the Peruvian State, clarified the National Fisheries Society (SNP). This clarification was made in response to statements by former Minister of Production Piero Ghezzi, who on Monday said that the fishing industry still has room to raise the royalties it pays as fishing rights, set at 0.25 per cent of the average annual price of the ton of fishmeal. The fee for fishing rights must be reviewed until June 27 of this year, when 10 years of Legislative Decree 1084 are fulfilled.
SNP president Elena Conterno indicated that in addition to the fishing rights, extraordinary contributions to the retirement fund (due to the bankruptcy of the Fisherman’s Fund), the Compensation Fund for the Fishery Management and everything related to fisheries surveillance are compulsorily paid. “If only the payment of fishing rights is considered, it seems to be little, but the fact is that there are several other fees that in the rest of the countries are part of the fishing right, while in Peru they are additional charges”, she explained.
Conterno also reported that in the period from 2008 to 2016, the contributions made by the marine ingredients industry increased by 375 per cent; that is to say that they were multiplied almost by four, when changing from USD 4 to USD 15 per ton of anchovy. “The fishing companies also comply with the payment of Income Tax (29.5 per cent) and the distribution of profits to workers (10 per cent),” she added. The union leader indicated that it is important to bear in mind that in the last four years, as a result of the fall of anchovy resource landings, the main companies and, in general, the sector has reported losses.
“In recent years, anchovy industrial fishing has neither gained much nor paid very little,” said the president of the SNP. In this scenario, she noted that the payments made to the Peruvian State for the use of all fishery resources should be considered, not just anchovy; as well as the use of natural resources such as water, the radioelectric spectrum, minerals, hydrocarbons, among others. “From the National Fisheries Society we welcome the technical analysis on the issue; we have been paying reasonable amounts and we are looking forward to an integral analysis that verifies it,” she said.
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