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Peru to ban anchovy fishing from Dec 23 |
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| PERU: December 19, 2002 | ||
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LIMA, Peru - Peru will temporarily ban fishing for anchovy, used to make one of the Andean nation's chief export products, fishmeal, beginning on Dec. 23 to monitor fish stocks, the government said on Wednesday.
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"The ban will begin ... on Dec. 23rd and there is no date set for its conclusion. That will be determined according to how fish stocks develop," an official at the Production Ministry, who requested anonymity, told Reuters. Peru is the world's top producer of fishmeal, which is used primarily to feed cattle. The Andean nation, which periodically instates bans to watch and protect the fish stocks fueling the industry that is Peru's second biggest export earner, lifted its last ban on Nov. 2. The fishing industry - vulnerable to weather fluctuations that influence sea temperature - has been hammered in the past by the feared weather phenomenon El Nino, which is caused by a period warming of water in the Pacific. Officials at the national sea institute IMARPE say Peru is beginning to feel the effects of El Nino, but say that this year's bout will be moderate compared to that which pummeled Peru in 1997-98, killing 200 people and causing $3.5 billion in damages. The ministry said the anchovy ban will stretch from Peru's northern border with Ecuador to the waters off the southern region of Arequipa, some 600 miles (1,000 km) south of the capital, Lima. "IMARPE will report daily on the state of the fishing ban," the official added. On Tuesday, Production Minister Eduardo Iriarte told reporters that the government was also considering a ban on hake fishing.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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