QUICK & PULSE

The Council for Appeal of Sanctions (Conas) resolved the 99 appeals against the fines imposed on 11 fishing companies, totaling over 12 million soles (more than 3 million dollars).

The Ministry of Production (Produce) has ratified the ban on industrial fishing in the National Reserve of Paracas. After months of evaluation, the Council for Appeal of Sanctions (CONAS) of Produce resolved the 99 appeals submitted by the fishing companies after being sanctioned for illegal fishing in the National Reserve of Paracas. The fines total over 12 million soles (more than 3 million dollars).

The Conas stated in its resolutions that "with respect to the exploitation of aquatic biological resources in the National Reserve of Paracas, no authorization for large-scale extraction has been verified since its creation." With this, it dismissed the arguments of the appealing companies that claimed to have pre-existing rights to fish in the protected area.

Out of the 99 appeals submitted, the Conas determined that 49 of them were unfounded, meaning it upheld the fines imposed in full. In other 46 appeals, the tribunal was unable to prove fishing activity within the reserve, but did confirm infractions due to vessels fishing at high speeds. Additionally, in two cases, minor adjustments were made to the fines due to calculation errors, while one case was dismissed and another declared unfounded, although the fine was maintained.

Experts consider the decision of Conas as a precedent that strengthens the protection of protected natural areas. This follows the uncertainty generated by the recent change in officials responsible for resolving these appeals. Two of the new officials are being investigated by the prosecutor's office after a report from the Comptroller General detected that they had granted irregular permits to companies to export more than 24 tons of shark fins.

With this decision of Conas, the fines are confirmed on the second administrative instance, but the companies still have the option of appealing to the judicial power.

The fined companies are Corporación Pesquera Inca, Pesquera Exalmar, CFG Investment (now Corporación Pesquera Inca), Pesquera Diamante, Austral Group, Empresa Pesquera Extractiva, Empresa Pesquera Percar, Pesquera Centinela, Pesquera Hayduk, Pesquera Saby, and Tecnológicas de Alimentos S.A.

The concern in the environmental sector, however, persists as new doors could be opened for illegal fishing to continue taking place within Peru's protected natural areas.

Read more | Deficient oversight by Peruvian authorities facilitates irregular transport of over 1500 tons of protected sharks

Recently, Minister of Production, Sergio González Guerrero, assured that his sector will seek to transfer the competencies to inspect and penalize fishing companies that commit infractions in marine protected areas to the National Service of Protected Natural Areas of the State (Sernanp). Some experts consider that this change may be positive, but that it is necessary for the transfer of competencies to be accompanied by budget and training. Otherwise, they assure, this change could benefit industrial fishing companies entering the Reserva Nacional de Paracas, as Sernanp does not have specialized equipment to carry out satellite tracking of vessels.

"The Sernanp should, based on this transfer of competencies, receive greater resources from the Ministry of Economy and Finance so that it can carry out this task under optimal conditions and also acquire equipment to be able to carry out this inspection," believes César Ipenza, an environmental law expert.

The recent statements by Minister Sergio González come in a climate of discontent over a draft supreme decree, published in December 2024, which seeks to modify the Regulation of the General Fishing Law. This modification aims to cease considering industrial fishing within protected natural areas as an offense. If this proposal advances, large-scale fishing activities within marine protected areas would no longer be sanctioned, as experts and over 20 former ministers and viceministers who have rejected the proposal assure.

In Peru, industrial fishing within protected areas, regardless of their level of protection, has been prohibited since 2001 under the regulation of the Natural Protected Areas Law. The law creating Sernanp, from 2008, states that the entity is responsible for inspecting and imposing the corresponding administrative sanctions in protected natural areas. However, the competent body for sanctioning any illegal activity related to fishing is the Ministry of Production.

This is partly because the main tool for determining where a vessel fished is the satellite tracking system (SISESAT), and it is the Ministry of Production that is in charge of that specialized system.

At the exit of a Produce event, on January 30 of this year, the Minister of Production, Sergio González, reported that the sector is coordinating with the Ministry of Environment (Minam) so that Sernanp is responsible for inspecting and fining fishing companies that enter marine protected areas illegally.

While he assured that Produce “will not leave unattended or will issue any regulation that affects protected areas,” Minister González specified that since its creation, Sernanp should be the entity responsible for inspecting and penalizing in marine protected areas.

Peruvian government ratifies economic sanctions against 11 fishing companies for illegal fishing in the Reserva Nacional de Paracas. Sernanp confirmed to Mongabay Latam that they are in talks with Produce, although they indicated that they cannot give an advance opinion as the specific powers to be granted to the Environment sector and Sernanp have not yet been defined.

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Who will assume the satellite monitoring system?

The satellite tracking system for vessels, known as SISESAT, has been operated for over 20 years by the Institute of the Sea of Peru (Imarpe), which depends on Produce. This system uses satellite technology to track the industrial fishing fleets of encircling (anchovy), trawling (hake), and potting (squid).

Through this tool, Produce monitors the fishing operations of commercial vessels, both national and foreign.

Eloy Aroni, representative of the specialized fishing consultancy Artisonal, explains that by regulation, vessels must have satellite equipment during the period of their fishing license. In this way, the position of the vessel is transmitted to the Produce monitoring center. For industrial vessels, the transmission frequency is every ten minutes to know their location.

The system used by the Ministry of Production is very robust for identifying the fishing patterns of vessels. The transmission period is much more accurate in industrial ships," says Aroni. "A fishing attempt for anchovy and mackerel [that is, an attempt to fish by throwing the fishing gear into the sea] can take a couple of hours and you have at least six positions of the boat per hour. This makes it so that, through these devices, they have almost the entire track of a vessel," he specifies.

To understand this complex system, it is necessary to have specialized personnel and the devices that Produce manages today. "Today, Sernanp does not have an authorized and direct copy of the data obtained from monitoring through SISESAT," maintains Aroni. "According to the standard, the monitoring control center only transmits information about the vessels to IMARPE and the Captaincies Directorate. Therefore, Sernanp does not have experience handling this type of data," indicates the expert.

As of now, it is still unknown whether Produce will make a transfer of competencies and the details of this transfer of powers. It has also not been reported whether Sernanp will have direct access to SISESAT or if the entity's staff will be trained to carry out the monitoring of vessels through this system.

Mongabay Latam sent questions to the Ministry of Production about how the announced measures by Minister González will be implemented, however, as of the publication of this note, the Ministry has not provided any answers. The lack of information, for now, increases among experts the concerns about the future of Peru's marine protected areas.

Editor's Note: On Saturday, March 22, we submitted a correction to the text, specifying that the companies fined still have the option to go to the Judicial Power to avoid appealing the decision of Conas.

*Main Image: The Ministry of Production (Produce) confirmed the ban on industrial fishing in the Reserva Nacional de Paracas. Photo: Andina