 Peru's traditional exports were valued at US$12.4
million in May, a figure which was US$106.4 million less than the same month
last year. Fishmeal was the main product. The 88.4% drop confirmed the downwards
global trend in the sales of these products. During January-May 1998, the
FOB value for exports was US$790 million - an 85.6% decrease from
the first five months of the previous year.
In June, the fishing sector decreased by 36.6% from June 1997, in spite
of the increase in the catches of other species, which amounted to 309,300
tonnes - a 51.4% rise on the previous month.
Peru's seafood landings amounted to 1,800,000 tonnes during January-July,
and they are expected to top 5,200,000 tonnes by the end of the year, according
to the Ministry of Fisheries. In July, landings reached 480,000 tonnes,
exceeding the 446,000 tonnes landed in 1997, which indicates that the country's
fishery sector has started to recover. The catch target for this year is
5.2 million tonnes, of which 4 million will be used for fishmeal production.
The catch limit (for fishmeal) will be set at about 8 million tonnes in
1999; at 8.1 million tonnes in 2000 and at 8.6 million tonnes in 2002.
The total catch (for direct and indirect consumption) is expected to
reach 10,495 million tonnes in 2002, which means that catches for direct
human consumption will be greatly increased. The authorities aim to rise
per capita consumption from 17.47kg to 26.64kg by 2003. |