The evil of Marcona hedgehogs is not in the quality of their gonads or in the productivity of traditional fishing grounds, even in the excess of catches or the risk for the survival of the species. The technicians of the Institute of the Sea of Peru (Imarpe) have ordered to close all areas of the hedgehog exploitation in San Juan de Marcona - about 2000 hectares south of the town, spread over 17 work areas and 1500 hectares north - because the Price is very low. They say they are too cheap; They think that the fishing ban is not going to affect fishermen's life too much. So much so that he has recommended banning it and ending four years of controlled and sustainable collection, which some of us have as the most outstanding product offered by the sea pantry in Peru. If the Peruvian hedgehog is a luxury, Marcona's is its brightest star. When winter comes, it is a magical piece. The shell contains a treasure hardly comparable, in the form of large, fat and fleshy tongues of an immaculate orange color. I have seen pieces weighing more than 200 grams. I see him as the foie gras of the sea, because of the texture he offers, and the foodies who look for him in restaurants and cevicherías live with him an intense love relationship.
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They are considerably larger and meatier than the hedgehogs that I have been able to find in the waters of Chile and those on the north coast of Peru and southern Ecuador. I don't know if it is the circumstances that define the ways of life in its waters, the quality of the algae or the small invertebrates that feed the hedgehog, the temperature of the water or the force with which the sea beats, but the hedgehogs that grow In the seagrass beds that surround Marcona have something that makes a difference. The Artisanal Fishing Community of Marcona knew it when it promoted the total ban implemented in 2011 and was responsible for monitoring its compliance. He returned to the activity in 2016, when a five-year period was opened, called 'exploratory exploitation', which allowed controlled and responsible fishing. The hedgehog complements the income of around 700 families, traditionally dedicated to the collection of algae.
The Imarpe technicians never fulfilled their commitments: certify the available biomass, set capture stocks, establish management plans and define closed periods. Their data certified the reduction of catches in the summer months, coinciding with the reproduction phase, and the increase in July and August, when winter rules in the southern hemisphere and the quality of the hedgehog is higher. In these years, a ban was never considered to protect the reproduction of the species, as in Chilean waters, where fishing, transportation and sale of the hedgehog is prohibited for three full months. On one side of the border it has ninety days of protection, on the other side neither one. The fishermen claim rest periods by zones, which adjust to the state of each production area, instead of general closures.
The Imarpe Monitoring Report reaches three conclusions that support the closure of the cauldrons: the decrease in the size of the gonads, 'bad weather conditions in the exploitation areas' and 'the low purchase prices of the resource' (literal ). If true, the first would have been resolved by applying closures such as those in Chile, or by setting quotas for catches. Impossible to maintain the size without letting it grow. The second has a pilgrim air and the third is denied by reality. The distribution lines to restaurants managed by the Artisanal Fishing Community have made prices go from 0.30 cents to 2.5 soles per piece.
The Ministry of Production loads on the market - producers, restaurants and consumers - the consequences of its ineffectiveness. The fishermen, who were in charge of monitoring the fulfillment of the ban implemented in 2011, put the means to make it possible and assumed the costs involved in the monitoring task, ensure that the productivity of the fishing areas has not stopped growing in the last years.
