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Peru The Maritime Region
A maritime region constitutes a fourth significant
environment within the Peruvian domain. The waters off the
Peruvian coast are swept by the Humboldt (or Peruvian)
Current
that rises in the frigid Antarctic and runs strongly
northward,
cooling the arid South American coastline before curving
into the
central Pacific near the Peru-Ecuador border. Vast shoals
of
anchovy, tuna, and several varieties of other valued fish
are
carried in this stream, making it one of the world's
richest
commercial fisheries
(see Structures of Production
, ch.
3). The
importance of guano has diminished since the rise of the
anchovy
fishing industry. The billions of anchovy trapped by
modern
flotillas of purse seiners guided by spotter planes and
electronic sounding devices are turned into fish meal for
fertilizer and numerous other industrial uses. Exports of
fish
meal and fish products are of critical importance for
Peru's
economy. For this reason, changes in the environmental
patterns
on the coast or in the adjacent ocean have devastating
consequences for employment and, therefore, national
stability.
The periodic advent of a warm current flowing south, known
as El
Niño (The Christ-child), and intensive fishing that has
temporarily depleted the seemingly boundless stocks of
anchovy
have caused major difficulties for Peru.
Data as of September 1992
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