The quota-setting body for South Pacific waters will increase the amount of horse mackerel that Peru can catch outside of the country’s 200-mile-limit by 35%, officials said.
Peru’s Ministry of Production said that the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (Rfmo-Ps) will allow 10,000 metric tons of the species to be caught in 2017.
“This increase of the Peruvian quota is one of the highest increases registered in the countries of the Rfmo-Ps, due to the special situation of Peru, which has a significant historical catch of this resource”, the Peruvian deputy minister for fisheries and aquaculture, Hector Soldi, said.
Soldi was elected as vice-chairman of the Rfmo-Ps commission for a period of two years.
In the framework of the event, Peru was also chosen as the venue for the sixth meeting of the commission, to be held in Lima between January 26 and February 4, 2018. The following meeting in 2019 will be held in The Netherlands.
This year, Peruvian officials have set the total allowable catch for mackerel at 100,000 metric tons.
This represents an increase of 7.5% from 2016 quota and of 4% compared with 2015.
Chile also raised its horse mackerel catch quotas for 2017, as scientific information revealed a significant improvement in the available biomass levels of the resource, the Chilean fishery and aquaculture ministry said.