"We want to support artisanal fishing and we are going to do everything humanly possible to make it happen," said Minister of Production of Peru, Ana María Choquehuanca.
Photo: Produce.
Like Chile, Peru has also initiated a series of coordination actions to be ready for possible contingencies caused by El Niño. Specifically, the Ministry of Production (Produce) has established an internal commission to make provisions for the possible impacts of this climatic phenomenon on productive activities such as fishing and aquaculture.
To the already implemented Artisanal Fisherman's Bonus - currently under review -, Produce now adds other measures such as the creation of a Network of Fisherwomen. Its objective is to prepare all citizens, but especially the population of those areas where the phenomenon would have the strongest impact, such as the north of the country.
"We do not want a repetition of what happened at some point, which did not have the necessary strategies to be able to see the issue of de-silting, dams, among others. Now we have all this planned, prepared, and we hope that El Niño does not hit us like last year," said the head of Produce, Ana María Choquehuanca.
As mentioned, one of the important measures against the El Niño phenomenon is the so-called Artisanal Fishermen's Bonus, which has already been paid to a lot of its beneficiaries. In less than 20 days, more than thirty-five thousand of them have already received the monetary subsidy of PEN 700 (EUR 171 / USD 188) provided by the Peruvian Government to formal artisanal fishermen -both embarked and not-, within the framework of mitigating the economic impacts resulting from El Niño and the abnormal waves.
However, Produce is currently reviewing some of the lists in detail to generate a final updated registry of these beneficiaries. "There are observations that are being reviewed, we are going to draw a last list to correct some errors that may have been made by the Regional Directorates of Production in the filling of the lists and then we are going to draw a resolution," clarified Minister Choquehuanca.
Produce's new measures against El Niño focus this time on women. Peru seeks to promote a Network of Fisherwomen to support the productivity of this sector when, due to natural circumstances, as in the case of this climatic phenomenon, they are unable to carry out their fishing activities.
"The Network of Fisherwoman would allow them to carry out other types of activities that do not necessarily have to do with fishing because in difficult times they cannot go to sea, they have no income," emphasized Ana María Choquehuanca. "We want to support artisanal fishing and we are going to do everything humanly possible to make it happen," she concluded.
