It’s 4 a.m., and a group of fishers in the city of Chimbote, 422 kilometers (262 miles) north of Lima, have arrived at the rocks of Campamento Atahualpa and Vesique beaches. This is the area they guard to protect the Peruvian grunt (Anisotremus scapularis), a fish highly valued for its meat. They have come to relieve their peers from night-watching duties. Faced with the threat of illegal fishing that has increased in recent decades, the fishers organized a system to protect the Peruvian grunt so they could continue fishing it as they’d done for years. “This is where the grunt is protected in Chimbote, because we’re here day and night,” says Gabriel Vásquez, 59, who volunteers as part of the group of fishers leading the project to protect the grunt. “If we drop our guard for just a moment, the people who use explosives will come and make the fish disappear. We chose to base ourselves here because it’s the only shelter.” In this area of Chimbote, fishing has been one of the main production activities for thousands of years. In 2022, the city was declared a Historic Capital of Fishing and Hydrobiological Resources. However, factors such as pollution and illegal activities have affected the marine ecosystem. For artisanal fishers and shellfish catchers dedicated to the protection of species like the Peruvian grunt in Chimbote, the work has not been easy. Beds built by fishers who keep watch at night to guard the shore from people who fish illegally using…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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