The Peruvian fishery is the center of the Southeast Pacific fishery and one of the four largest fisheries in the world. It is formed by the upward compensating current of the Peruvian cold current. The aquatic resources are very rich, with more than 800 kinds of fish and shellfish including anchovies.

The reason why Peru’s fishery resources are so rich is inseparable from the unique natural conditions along the coast. The powerful Peruvian cold current passes along the coast of Peru. Blows by the prevailing westerly and southeasterly winds all year round, the surface water deviates from the coast and the lower cold water overflows. This not only significantly reduces the water temperature, but more importantly, it brings a large amount of nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. In addition, the coast is cloudy and foggy, and the sunshine is not strong, which is conducive to the large-scale reproduction of coastal plankton. For cold-water fish, In particular, it provides extremely favorable conditions for the reproduction and growth of anchovies (which like cold water below 20°C). As a result, the coastal area of ??Peru has become a large fishing ground, with the fishing area being about 370 kilometers wide.

Because it is close to the sea, the main delicacies of Peruvian fisheries are seafood. The most famous ones are spicy fish fillets, marinated seafood, Bama scallops and shrimp platter. Local specialty sweets include purple corn mush, Lima egg snacks, milk porridge and Mrs. Pepper candies. For drinks, locals recommend the dark chicha, as well as the world-famous Pisco Sour, a cocktail made with pisco, Peruvian lemon and sugar.

Peruvian Fishing Ground

The coast of Peru has one of the four largest fishing grounds in the world, where anchovies are a famous specialty. The Peruvian cold current lowers the water temperature, brings nutrients such as nitrates, and promotes the large-scale reproduction of fish bait such as plankton, thus attracting more than 800 species of commercial fish, especially cold-water fish such as shad, to gather in an area of ??200 nautical miles.

Ocean currents are closely related to the distribution of fishing grounds. The regular food for fish is zooplankton. Zooplankton live on phytoplankton, and the distribution of phytoplankton is determined by the amount of nutrient salts. Sea areas with more nutrients and salts in the surface layer have more plankton. The content of nutrient salts in surface seawater is reduced due to the consumption of phytoplankton; below the surface, nutrient salts are consumed very little and are generally more abundant. The intersection of cold and warm currents and upwelling can bring nutrients to the surface.

Where cold and warm currents meet, the seawater is disturbed, causing up and down churning, which brings the rich nutrient salts in the lower layer to the surface, prompting plankton to multiply in large numbers, and all kinds of fish come here to look for food. Food. Anchovies are a specialty here.

Anchovies

Anchovies are slender fish with a flat back and a very beautiful tail. The size and color of the male and female fish are quite different. The male fish has a thin body, 4 to 5 cm in length. The dorsal fin is longer and pointed, the caudal fin is wide and long, accounting for more than half of the total length, and the caudal peduncle is long,

anchovies

higher than the caudal peduncle. According to the shape of its tail fin, it can be divided into upper tail, lower sword tail, double sword tail, piano tail, needle tail, round tail, flag tail, fan tail, triangle tail, scissor tail, pointed tail) and large tail. The colors of its body, dorsal fin, and tail fin are colorful, mainly including red, blue, black, yellow, green, tiger skin color, and variegated colors. Some male fish have small blue-black spots on their tails, which look like peacock's tail feathers, hence the name. The body of the female fish is thicker: the body length can reach about 7 centimeters. The body color is dull, flesh-colored, and slightly transparent. The color of the dorsal fin and tail fin is much inferior to that of the male fish.

Anchovy

Anchovy, the general name for some fishes in the Anchovy family, is also known as anchovy strips and sea anchovies. Big mouth, lower position. Snout

Anchovy

Blunk, lower jaw shorter than upper jaw. The body is covered with thin round scales that fall off easily. No side lines. The abdomen is round and without spindle scales. Caudal fin forked. Warm water pelagic fish have strong phototaxis, especially in young fish. Small fish, the length of the spawning fish group is 75~140mm, and the weight is 5~20g. "Hai Anchovy" is a salted and dried product processed from young anchovies. The anchovy has a flat body, about 10 centimeters in length, is blue-green in color, and looks like a sardine. It is commonly known as Peruvian sardine. They gather on the Peruvian coast at the turn of summer and autumn every year.

Although anchovies are not edible, their bones are the main raw material for the fishmeal industry (on average, one ton of fishmeal can be produced for every 5.3 tons of anchovies). More than 90% of the anchovies caught in Peru are used to make fish meal and fish oil.

More than 90% of fishery products are exported, and fishmeal export volume ranks first in the world and is sold to more than 50 countries.