It is four in the morning and a group of fishermen in the city of Chimbote, 422 kilometers north of Lima, arrive at the rocks of the Campamento Atahualpa and Vesique beaches where the area where they shelter the Sit (Anisotremus scapularis), a fish highly valued for its meat. Their arrival at this time of day marks the replacement of the other group of fishermen who had been on watch throughout the night. Faced with the need to continue fishing as they had done in previous years, they have organized to protect the Chita from illegal fishing, which has increased in recent decades.
“This is the place where the Chita is preserved in Chimbote because we are here day and night. If we are careless for a moment, those who throw explosives come and the fish disappear. We chose to settle here because it was the only refuge,” says Gabriel Vásquez, who at 59 years old and on his own initiative is part of the group of fishermen who lead the project for the preservation of the Chita.
In this area of Chimbote, fishing has been one of the main productive activities since ancient times. In 2022 the city was declared a Historical Capital of Fishing and Hydrobiological Resources, However, various factors such as pollution and illegal activity have affected the marine ecosystem. For artisanal fishermen and shellfish collectors dedicated to the protection of species such as the Chita in Chimbote, the task has not been easy.
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A refuge from illegal fishing
The Chita conservation project covers about a kilometer and a half between the Vesique, La Cocina and Atahualpa hills on the coast of Chimbote, in Samanco Bay. Being rock fishermen – that is, they fish from the rocks – they also protect the sides of the hills that border the sea. The purpose, say the fishermen, is to Protect the species and make artisanal fishing sustainable that they learned from previous generations to provide for the family basket and the local market.
For Juan Carlos Sueiro, director of Fisheries at Oceana and former consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “the Chita is a species of high commercial value, but vulnerable because it is located very close to the coast.” This species, present in rocky and sandy areas, is exploited by artisanal fishermen throughout the year, except for the short spawning season.
“We fish with line or rope, we respect the Chita bans and we take care of it. That is why the fish has remained in this area. We have been working here for years and seeing that [los ilegales] They came to threaten us and threw dynamite into the sea. We asked ourselves what we could do to take refuge, take care of the species and continue fishing,” says Gabriel Vásquez, recalling what motivated the artisanal fishermen to organize.
Since then, for nearly 30 years, Vásquez and about 40 fishermen have taken turns to protect this place in Chimbote according to their fishing schedules. “Our dream is to establish an area of care and work that is recognized by the authorities. As fishermen, we depend on our work and the species to provide a living for our homes,” he says.
The use of explosives and trawl nets operated by divers are prohibited methods according to the General Fishing Law Regulations and the resolution that requires the use of nets in shallow rocky areas. However, according to Oceana’s Sueiro, “fishing with explosives is an old practice that remains in areas where there is no urban development nearby. [Los pescadores ilegales] They choose places where the towns are small or relatively far away, where there are cliffs, which allows a certain impunity.”
Percy Grandez, a legal specialist in Marine Governance at the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law (SPDA), explains that fishing with explosives is highly damaging to marine ecosystems because it affects the target species and others that are not targeted due to the reach of the dynamite. In addition, Sueiro adds that the method kills eggs and larvae, damages the internal organs of fish and stirs up the seabed, generating a significant disturbance to the environmental surroundings.
The 2015 report by the Peruvian Marine Institute (Imarpe), conducted in Huacho (Lima) and San Andrés (Ica), revealed the consequences of illegal activity on species such as the Chita. Long gone are the days when Vásquez and other fishermen participated in competitions to capture Chita on the coasts of Chimbote due to the abundance of the species. “Currently there is a lot of predation and those activities that promoted tourism can no longer be carried out. There are people who do not respect the situation and go with their nets and explosives, and we have to fight against that,” says the fisherman.
Despite this, for those who protect this area in Chimbote, their efforts have kept some illegal fishermen away from the area and have allowed this fish to not disappear from the place.
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The defense of an endangered species
Although Gabriel Vásquez and the fishermen of Chimbote take care of this area for the protection of the Chita, fishing with explosives and the use of fences by divers have become the main enemies of their efforts.
Since 2018, fishermen have reported the presence of people throwing explosives and the entry of divers with nets to prey on species in the area. The looting of these waters is accompanied by threats with firearms against the fishermen who protect the place, which generates fear.
“These illegal people wait for all those who take care of the protected area to go home and they enter with the explosives,” says Almensor Gómez, 63, president of the Association of Artisanal Fishermen of San Pedrito, who was one of the first guardians of the conservation of the Chita in this space in Chimbote. Gómez remembers that they bought slingshots and got rocks because they did not know how to defend themselves from the illegal fishermen.
The alteration of the marine ecosystem caused by illegal fishing is also reflected in the overexploitation of resources. Unlike the eight kilos that the fishermen who protect this area can catch daily, illegal fishing is a voluminous catch that, according to specialists, reaches approximately 500 kilos. As a consequence, the impact extends to the fishermen, who are increasingly finding it difficult to make ends meet by fishing in Chita as they did decades ago.
Almensor Gómez recalls that they used to extract this species taking into account the seasons, but Illegal fishing has gained ground over the years, and requests and actions to the authorities have yet to yield concrete responses. “There is no support but we do the work of looking after the species and we look for ways to protect the place at the sanctuary level. Perhaps a regional protected area could be created, but that requires scientific studies and it is expensive to bring in biologists and do analyses to have a consensual work,” says the fisherman.
Recognition of the fishing regulations by the competent authorities would allow for monitoring the conservation of marine species, particularly the Chita, and a work space for their use. “The area could even become a tourist corridor for people to come and we would continue to take care of the Chita,” says Vásquez.
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Waiting for institutional support
Although the fishermen have recorded the presence of illegal fishermen on video and have requested support from the Harbor Master’s Office, the complaints made through this channel have not been processed.
The repeated requests to the local authorities of Chimbote have also not had a concrete response. Coordination was paralyzed with the changes in municipal and regional management. Even in April 2022, the then Minister of Production, Jorge Luis Prado, announced from Chimbote the creation of a “solutions table” to address the problems of the area and reactivate the economy through artisanal fishing, but the fishermen assure that they have not seen any changes in the face of threats.
The crime of illegal extraction of aquatic species is punishable by up to five years in prison. “However, if the extraction is also carried out using explosives, the penalty increases to seven years because it is a highly damaging fishing method that affects marine ecosystems and the sustainability of the fishery,” says Percy Grandez, from the SPDA.
Because it is difficult for the authorities to be present at the time when the crime is committed, Grandez highlights the work of fishermen to generate a record [de foto y video] which may lead to evidence before the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office (FEMA). “There are not many sanctions because there are not many substantiated complaints, and an authority will not sanction if there is no evidence,” he says.
However, for the Oceana specialist, the task is complex. “Together with Dicapi (General Directorate of Captaincies and Coast Guard) and the police, the crime would have to be pursued and the criminal structure identified, which implies a larger operation than just looking for someone who is in the water and using explosives,” he adds.