In the north of Peru we are working with observers to monitor the interactions in the demersal (bottom) longline fishery. This report was written by Eliana Alfaro Córdova, who has been helping Prodelphinus and the Albatross Task Force by accompanying the fishers in the north on their daily fishing excursions. Eliana explains her recent trip in this blog:
Its two o'clock in the morning and the alarm clock sounds suddenly, interrupting my sleep. I get up and get ready very quickly because Cumbia must be arriving at the square where we agreed to meet. The town of Mancora sleeps; the tourists have finished their meals and are all in bed, few cars and trucks pass along the road.
Down at the docks it also seems to be very early, "catches are not good," says Cumbia while he accommodates the crates of bait and longline gear on the jetty, whistling to call the boatman to take us to his vessel. It is a difficult season for fishermen in northern Peru, the recent water temperature anomalies added to the inadequate management of artisanal fisheries over the last 20 years (if not more), have resulted in decreased fish populations for important species like hake (Merluccius gayi) and cusk eel (Genypterus chilensis).
"But you cannot give up so easily” says Cumbi, “we have to go out and find at least some fish to feed the family for the day" he explains as we get into the small boat which takes us and the gear to the fishing vessel. It is still dark when we finish filleting and baiting and Cumbia starts the noisy engine. It's now four o’clock and we are ready to go, but where to? "To the south, but close, it’s not worth investing too much fuel with fishing as it is".
Below: Cumbia prepares the bait for the days fishing trip.
At ten to five, we start deploying the longline, which is stowed in three boxes, each with 600 m of line making up a total length of 1,800 m. As the baited hooks are tossed into the water, the sun starts coming out, making the task seem easier. Once the set is finished we wait for a while before we start the haul.
I spot some birds in the area, blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii), Guanay cormorants (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii) and Peruvian pelicans (Pelecanus thagus) roam around the vessel. I have seen Waved albatrosses (Phoebastria irrorata) before in the same area in previous years but we did not see any this trip. August and September are the months when these birds are closer to the coast and they are known to interact with longline fisheries, so we are always keeping our eyes peeled.
Below: A Blue-footed booby poses for the camera in Mancora
As six o'clock arrives we start hauling, hoping for good results and a good quantity of cusk eels. Two humpback whales (Megaptera novoaengliae) pass greeting us with their enormous tail flukes. This is the season for their migration through Peruvian waters and they approach close to the coast with their young in search of refuge and tranquillity until they accumulate enough body mass to withstand the low temperatures of Antarctica.
A few fish start to appear on the hooks including the Reddish scorpion fish (Scorpaena russola) Sand perch (Diplectrum Conceptione), cusk eel (Genypterus chilensis), Peruvian rock seabass (Paralabrax humeralis) and even a Mutton hamlet (Alphestes sp.) plus a couple of clingfish (Sicyases sanguineus) among others. Apparently the fishing is not so bad, but then three sealions (Otaria flavescens) appear and start plucking the fish from the line before we can haul them into the boat. We try to rush to complete the work and leave them behind, but they are too quick and still manage to take the cusk eels. At-sea a fisherman is one more link in the food chain, and when hunting a scarce resource, competition is fierce.
Below: A sealion makes off with his stolen meal.
We finally finish and by now it is nine o'clock. We sort the catch while heading back towards port in Mancora. We'll compare notes with the few fishermen who decided to fish in the north before deciding where to tomorrow morning.