The city of Iquique, located in the north of Chile, on the coast of the arid Atacama desert and near the border with Peru, is the fishing zone of the Anchovy par excellence. Anchovy is a pelagic species that forms large shoals. It is mainly used for the manufacture of fish meal and Omega 3 oil, but recently it has started to be marketed for direct human consumption.
During the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the Anchovy fishery in the South Pacific came into crisis due to climatic factors and a fisheries policy that favored large volumes, at the expense of sustainability.
The Governments of Peru and Chile had to establish quotas and face a serious reconsideration of the Fisheries. The fleets were dramatically reduced, to the point that today they are almost one third of what they used to be.
This hard blow to the fishing industry left many people unemployed and several companies had to close their doors, but at the same time made germinate among the survivors a growing and marked concern for a sustainable fishing, which could grant predictability and stability. It is not an empty slogan to comply with standards, those who were able to remain standing have impregnated the concept of sustainability, learned maybe the hardest way. The reduction of the fleet and the establishment of permissible catch quotas by company contributed to the stability and predictability, as well as to the conservation of the resource. But this alone is not enough to ensure that a fishery is sustainable.
Efficient handling of the permitted catch should be carried out, while ensuring that the species is reproduced in order to have a fishing stock. To this end it is essential to know the behavior of the species, the places and dates of reproduction, so as to avoid as much as possible the capture of Juveniles. At this point plays an important role the CIAM or Centre for Applied Marine Research, a private institution created and financed by the fishing companies.
However, the behavior of the anchovy is dynamic, and the juveniles are presented at the same time in different areas or are constantly moving. This puts the final decision on catching to the Skipper on board.
CORPESCA is the one who owns the largest share of anchovy capture in Chile and also one of the largest fishing corporations in the Country. They are on the frontline in the battle for sustainable fishing. The Company’s Purse-seine fleet has had successful experiences in reducing the bycatch of juveniles. The incorporation of modern SPLIT BEAM acoustic tools coupled with improved management policies and procedures, have made juvenile catches fall from 30% to about 1% of the total. The impact is remarkable.
Through our agent in Chile, SELMAR LTDA, our work team was appointed to make a presentation of the SPLIT BEAM echo sounder SEAMAN DBF-4000 before the management committee of the anchovy, which integrates Shipowners, Skippers, Fishermen Unions and the Government.
The project promoted by CORPESCA aims to equip the its own fleet and the artisanal fishermen of acoustic SPLIT BEAM equipment that can contribute to a more intelligent fishing effort.
The first step was the installation of a DBF-4000-SB on board the fishing vessel CORPESCA 2, which was successfully tested in fishing tasks. Today we work on the coordination with the CIAM so that the data of this equipment can be retrieved and processed for later use. It is at this point that CORPESCA and the CIAM can experience the greatest advantages of our open concept and high customization level.
In the battle for sustainability, the incorporation of acoustic technology definitively makes the difference.