At-sea solid waste production by a small-scale fishery in Peru.

Marine litter is a growing environmental problem for which fisheries-sourced waste remains poorly understood. In Peru, there is an ongoing challenge of waste management from the small-scale fisheries fleet given the lack of facilities to receive the variety of debris produced by fishers, which includes hazardous wastes such as batteries. In this study, onboard solid waste production was monitored daily by land-based observers upon landing at the port of Salaverry, Peru, from March to September 2017. The analysed small-scale gillnet and longline fishing fleets produced annually an estimated 11,260 kg of solid waste. Of particular concern is the production of single use plastics (3427 kg) and batteries (861 kg) due to their potential long-lasting impacts on the environment and challenges related to their proper disposal. A management plan for solid waste has been developed for Salaverry; therefore, a subsequent assessment was conducted in 2021-2022 of the behaviours and perceptions of fishers regarding the implementation of this plan. Most fishers (96%) reported disposing of their waste on land, except organic waste which is disposed of at sea. While fishers in Salaverry have become more conscious of the issues surrounding at-sea waste disposal and have an interest in better segregating and managing their waste, there remains a need for improved waste management and recycling protocols and procedures at the port to make this possible.

Solid waste assessment in a coastal fishing community in Peru.

Peru has a large small-scale fishing fleet upon which many coastal communities depend for their food and livelihoods. Nonetheless, no thorough assessments have been conducted of solid waste production and management of small-scale fisheries (SSF) and associated communities. We aimed to assess gillnet SSF and household solid waste generation in San Jose, north Peru. A solid waste generation assessment was conducted by monitoring solid waste production during 22 fishing trips and interviewing 70 families. Daily waste generation and recycling per capita, were calculated applying separate Generalized Linear Mixed-Effect Models. Organic waste is the most frequently produced during fishing activities (38%) and at home (83%), followed by plastic and metal. Glass, paper/cardboard, and fishing nets were solely produced during fishing trips. Daily waste per capita was estimated on 0.14 kg∗(day)-1 onboard, and 0.33 kg∗(day)-1 at home. Additionally, perception interviews showed that the population of San Jose perceived solid waste as a threat to public health and marine ecosystems. This study provides a first attempt to assess solid waste production in a Peruvian fishing community, showing the need for an integrated management plan embracing vessel and land-based solid waste generation.

Review of threats to the Pacific seahorse Hippocampus ingens (Girard 1858) in Peru.

Illegal wildlife trade has been identified as a major source of global commerce of seahorses. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora listed the genus Hippocampus in Appendix II in 2004, when several countries that commercialized these species also banned transactions through domestic legislation, Peru being one of them. Nevertheless, since the 2004 ban was decreed in Peru, transactions have continued, including international commerce, as well confiscations of illegal seahorse Hippocampus ingens (Girard 1858) products. The authors reviewed three official government sources for information on seahorse trade in Peru, identifying differences in the reporting of the two agencies that monitor exports and imports of seahorses, likely due to non-standardized use of product categorization codes (Partidas Arancelarias). Confiscations reported by one of the agencies confirmed that illegal trade continued despite the ban and in similar amounts of what was exported by Peru before the ban (1053 kg confiscated in 2019 vs. 1460 kg exported in 2004, an estimated 437,888 and 607,067 seahorses, respectively). This review highlights gaps in seahorse conservation in Peru, which include research gaps (e.g., taxonomy, biology and use of habitats) as well as the identification of fisheries impact and improvements in by-catch reporting. This review also highlights areas for possible improvement in international trade (e.g., standardized descriptions of Partidas) that ultimately would allow the country to follow the Convention for Illegal Trade of Endangered Species regulations for seahorses.

Diet, trophic interactions and possible ecological role of commercial sharks and batoids in northern Peruvian waters.

The Peruvian sea represents one of the most productive ocean ecosystems and possesses one of the largest elasmobranch fisheries in the Pacific Ocean. Ecosystem-based management of these fisheries will require information on the trophic ecology of elasmobranchs. This study aimed to understand the diet, trophic interactions and the role of nine commercial elasmobranch species in northern Peru through the analysis of stomach contents. A total of 865 non-empty stomachs were analysed. Off northern Peru, elasmobranchs function as upper-trophic-level species consuming 78 prey items, predominantly teleosts and cephalopods. Two distinctive trophic assemblages were identified: (a) sharks (smooth hammerhead shark Sphyrna zygaena, thresher shark Alopias spp. and blue shark Prionace glauca) that feed mainly on cephalopods in the pelagic ecosystem; and (b) sharks and batoids (Chilean eagle ray Myliobatis chilensis, humpback smooth-hound Mustelus whitneyi, spotted houndshark Triakis maculata, Pacific guitarfish Pseudobatos planiceps, copper shark Carcharhinus brachyurus and school shark Galeorhinus galeus) that feed mainly on teleosts and invertebrates in the benthonic and pelagic coastal ecosystem. This study reveals for the first time the diet of T. maculata and the importance of elasmobranchs as predators of abundant and commercial species (i.e., jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas and Peruvian anchovy Engraulis ringens). The results of this study can assist in the design of an ecosystem-based management for the northern Peruvian sea and the conservation of these highly exploited, threatened or poorly understood group of predators in one of the most productive marine ecosystems.