Local fishermen of Paita have complained that around 12 trawlers and a factory ship from Korea have been catching Peruvian and jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) in national waters.
Edwin Vegas Gallo, a candidate for the regional government as a member of the Peru Posible party, said that he was informed of this situation by fishermen during a visit to the port of Paita.
He told that Korean vessels are infringing Ministerial Resolution No. 163-2010, prepared by the Ministry of Production (Produce), which establishes a special regime for the extraction of squid by foreign vessels to develop programs of cooperation with Peruvian fisheries.
Vegas Gallo also said that the worst thing is, is that they have been catching fish since before they were given authorisation. In addition, he anticipated that when the suspension is lifted, the Korean vessels will be more equal in terms of competition with the Peruvian fishermen. Scientists at the Instituto del Mar del Peru (IMARPE) recommended that the catch quota does not exceed 250,000 tonnes, an amount which is estimated to not affect the sustainability of giant squid stocks in the Peruvian sea.
José Alfonso De la Torre Ugarte Servat, CEO of Extraction and Processing of Fish for Produce explained that the new extraction system was more stringent than the previous ones, since it only allows squid to be captured by foreign vessels which have an agreement with the country. José María Porras Yamunaqué, president of the Regional Federation of Fishermen, told the authorities from the Ministry that it was essential to repeal the resolution because the squid is the only resource they have, because there are no sardines or mackerel.
