Peru defends 'paper park' that allows industrial fishing
Experts criticise permission for intensive fishing in a marine reserve created to protect the biodiversity of the Nasca Ridge underwater mountain range
Alberto Ñiquen October 29, 2021
n 2019, the Peruvian government announced it would establish two new marine protected areas in its waters by 2021: the Nasca Ridge National Reserve off Peru’s southwest coast; and the Grau Tropical Marine Reserve to the north of the country.
The aim was to conserve the great biodiversity of these areas and enhance their social, economic and natural value. It also meant that Peru would be moving the dial on the international commitment, made in 2010 under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, to have at least 10% of the ocean covered by protected areas by 2020.
The idea for the Grau Tropical Marine Reserve dates back to 2016. This 1,160km2 zone, where the Equatorial and Humboldt currents converge, is home to more than 70% of the species found in Peru’s waters. However, its creation has stalled due to opposition from some fossil fuel companies, who fear losing their exploitation rights in 10 nearby oil lots.
When the Nasca Ridge reserve was created in June this year, it increased the protected proportion of Peru’s waters from 0.48% to 6.5%. The reserve covers some 62,400km2, including an underwater mountain range known as the Nasca Ridge, along which over 1,100 species have been recorded. Thirty-two of them are of commercial importance (including squid, perico, bonito, horse mackerel, blue shark, swordfish, yellowfin tuna and mackerel), and 30 of them – such as the blue whale and leatherback turtle – are classed by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as vulnerable or endangered. Forty-one percent of the fish and 46% of the invertebrates are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world. It is also a transit point in the long migrations of some species such as the humpback whale, and is home to deep-sea life such as cold-water corals and cod.
More:
https://chinadialogueocean.net/19638-peru-defends-nasca-ridge-paper-park-allows-industrial-fishing/