In six months of the currently running “Basura Cero (Zero Garbage)” project, 250 boats registered the return of almost 6 tons of waste generated in fishing activities in the Artisanal Fishing Landing (Desembarcaderos Pesqueros Artesanales, DPA) El Faro de Matarani, preventing it from reaching and contaminating the Peruvian sea.
Note: WWF – 05 May 2023
“Basura Cero” is an initiative created by WWF Peru in 2021, focused on the management of inorganic waste generated during fishing activities and in artisanal fishing landings (DPA). If not correctly managed, this inorganic waste has a detrimental impact on marine life. 46% of the waste on Peruvian beaches is plastic (*) (MINAM, 2022).
Since the end of 2022, and thanks to funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), work has continued at the DPA El Faro in Matarani, Arequipa, the first community where the project was implemented, and where efforts are also focused on the possible use of hydrobiological waste.
In April, WWF Peru organised the workshop “Strengthening waste management in El Faro” to present the progress and results, and to collect comments and suggestions from the attendees. Among the attendees were skippers and shipowners, members of fishing organisations such as the Union of Artisanal Fishermen and Seafood Extractors Islay Matarani (Sindicato de Pescadores Artesanales y Extractores de Mariscos de Islay Matarani, SPAEMIM) and the El Faro Matarani Shipowners, Artisanal Curtain Net and High Sea Fishermen Association (Asociación de Armadores Pescadores Artesanales de Redes de Cortina y Altureros el Faro Matarani, APARCARFM), as well as workers of the DPA El Faro of Matarani.
On the other hand, meetings were held with key actors in the public and private sector for waste management in the DPA El Faro, such as the Municipality of Islay, the Regional Government, the Captaincy of Mollendo, among others. As a result, the actors showed willingness to implement joint actions and aim for the sustainability of the project.
Project Progress
It was expected that by the end of the project, the number of vessels returning their waste would be 120, however, by mid-term, 250 vessels were already involved, exceeding by 150% the number of vessels at the beginning of the project.
The crews of 380 vessels have been made aware of the importance of returning their waste, involving almost all the vessels working in the DPA El Faro. This represents a total of 1520 people, including fishermen and crew members, who are constantly being made aware of marine pollution and waste management, strengthening their long-term commitment.
Another objective of the project is that, of what is returned, at least 700 kilos of plastic and 500 litres of used oil are used or segregated for recycling. About this:
So far, they collected 811 kilos of plastic bottles alone, which were collected by the Matarani Recyclers’ Association (Asociación de Recicladores de Matarani) for further use.
400 litres of used motor oil were prevented from entering the sea and being disposed of incorrectly.
“Since the beginning of the project, there has been great commitment and active collaboration from the fishermen and administrative staff of the DPA El Faro. The infrastructure has been improved, and materials, training, and tools have been provided, which were well received and used by the local actors, making the segregation and collection of waste during their fishing activities and at the DPA easier”, explained Julia Maturrano, associate officer of WWF Peru’s Marine Programme.
Finally, the actors involved in the project commented that they will meet with key allies at national and regional level to address the issue of the final disposal of oily waste and the recycling of hydrobiological waste, among other actions to contribute to the segregation and use of usable waste.
Source: WWF (see original article)
(*) Source: Ministerio del Ambiente (MINAM), 2022
