Abstract
The Peruvian anchovy fishery is the largest worldwide in terms of catches. The fishery started during the mid 1950s, and since then it has been highly dependent on natural stock fluctuations, due to the sensitivity of anchovy stocks to ocean-climate variability. The main driver of anchovy stock variability is the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and three extreme ENSO warm events were recorded in 1972–1973, 1983–1984 and 1997–1998. This study investigates the evolution of coping strategies developed by the anchovy fisheries to deal with climate variability and extreme ENSO events. Results showed eight coping strategies to reduce impacts on the fishery. These included: decentralized installation of anchovy processing factories; simultaneous ownership of fishing fleet and processing factories; use of low-cost unloading facilities; opportunistic utilization of invading fish populations; low cost intensive monitoring; rapid flexible management; reduction of fishmeal price uncertainty through controlled production based on market demand; and decoupling of fishmeal prices from those of other protein-rich feed substitutes like soybean. This research shows that there are concrete lessons to be learned from successful adaptations to cope with climate change-related extreme climatic events that impact the supply of natural resources. The lessons can contribute to improved policies for coping with climate change in the commercial fishery sector.
Highlights
Capture fisheries and aquaculture supplied the world with about 142 million tons of fish food in and provided 3 billion people with at least 15% of their average per capita animal protein intake [1] These fishery activities, so important for nourishing and ensuring the livelihoods of large sectors of the world population, are closely linked to weather and climate dynamics, and are more affected by these than any other category of food production [2]
The aim of this study is to investigate the evolution of coping strategies developed by the Peruvian anchovy fishery to deal with environmental variability and extreme El Niño events, whose frequency can be expected to increase under current climate change scenarios [33,34]
Our results show that Peruvian fishing companies and anchovy management authorities have together developed at least eight strategies to cope with the impacts of climate variability and extreme El Niño events (Table 1)
Summary
Capture fisheries and aquaculture supplied the world with about 142 million tons of fish food in and provided 3 billion people with at least 15% of their average per capita animal protein intake [1] These fishery activities, so important for nourishing and ensuring the livelihoods of large sectors of the world population, are closely linked to weather and climate dynamics, and are more affected by these than any other category of food production [2]. Fisheries-climate links have been the subject of research since at least the establishment of the International Council of the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in 1902 [4]. More than a century later, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that “the fisheries sector is not unfamiliar with the issue of climate variability and it is experienced in dealing with variability on a range of time scales” [5]. Annual current catches are around 7–8 million tons [10] captured by almost 1200 purse seiners locally known as bolicheras [11]
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