Stable biomass has enabled the Peruvian Ministry of Production to announce that the industrial anchovy fishing quota for the north-central fishing area will be 2.3 million tonnes for the November 2013 to January 2014 fishing season, according to IFFO.
Peruvian anchovy is the world's largest fishery and it has two fishing seasons each year - with the first for north-central usually running from May to July, and the second running from November to the end of the following January.
The 2.3-million-tonne quota is about 12 per cent higher than that for the first season of 2013 and more than 180 per cent higher than the 810,000 tonnes for the equivalent season of 2012.
This new quota brings the fishery back into historically normal quota ranges after the 68 per cent quota reduction imposed for last year’s second season.
Deputy Minister of Fisheries, Paul Phumpiu, said the new quotas was a responsible quota intended to ensure the recovery of the biomass of the pelagic resource, established on the basis of a series of recommendations from the Instituto del Mar del Peru (IMARPE). Its latest survey determined the biomass at 10.3 million tonnes in the north-central area (5.3 million tonnes 2012) and 1.87 million tonnes in the southern zone.
In addition, the Government indicated that the anchovy capture season in the south area of Peru will have a quota of 430,000 tonnes, following 400,000 tonnes for the first season of 2013, and will run from late October until March 2014.
Total annual quotas for this zone have remained around 700,000 to 850,000 for the whole year for several years.
IFFO's Director General, Andrew Mallison, said: "We are very pleased to hear of increased quota based on sound science from IMARPE and the precautionary approach. The Government has also announced that surveillance systems will be strengthened on landings, discards, juvenile catch, by catch of other species and the anchovy reproductive process. It looks very much like the newly announced quotas are more in keeping with traditional historical figures and reflect the success of the emphasis on the long-term sustainability of this important marine resource."
