Peru has allocated for the first time in history a quota for anchovy fishing for direct human consumption, Hector Soldi, Peru’s vice minister for fisheries and aquaculture, told Undercurrent News in Brussels last week.
The total allowable catch (TAC) for 2017 is 300,000 metric tons, Soldi said.
The purpose of this new quota allocation specification is to stimulate the use of anchovy resources for human consumption, he said, noting Peru already has a very large fishery for fishmeal and fish oil.
The introduction of the TAC, which is “very large” for the sector, will be “very good for the industry”, Soldi said.
“We are doing other regulations to facilitate production and export of different presentations of anchovy, including cans, frozen anchovies and surimi”, Soldi noted.
Soldi also pointed out the government will use some of the $180 million provided by the World Bank to fund innovation in the country’s fisheries and aquaculture industry to develop new anchovy products for human consumption and renew the fleet.
Soldi also noted that the 2.8m metric tons of quota allocated for the first anchovy fishing season in the center-northern Area of Peru, which started last on April 22, was “very good for the industry and very good for the sustainability of the resource”.
Peru has launched in Brussels last week a new brand “Super Peru” to promote its seafood exports.
The Peruvian ocean is one of the richest in the world, as it includes super anchovy, mackerel, horse mackerel, tuna, among other products, said Isabella Falco Scheuch, Peru’s country image and communications director.
The new brand will be marketed by the government official institution
that promotes Peruvian exports, From Peru, at international food fairs.
The quota for human consumption was given to non-industrial anchovy fishing to encourage consumption of products such as surimi, cans and ‘anchova’ for the Spanish market, said Philippe Botta Jouvenot, the general manager of Arcopa, a Peruvian fishing company that produces anchovy surimi.
Arcopa has introduced the anchovy surimi product in 2000, but over the last four years with a new Peruvian ownership it developed a substantial market for this product in Spain, Japan, Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine, Botta said, adding that the anchovy surimi was produced with a Japanese technology.Arcopa also exports hake and scallops, among other products.
2017 Undercurrent News