Peru is able to contribute to global food safety by promoting fish consumption, Alejandro Flores Senior Fisheries and Aquaculture Officer at FAO's Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean highlighted.
"Peru can contribute to ensuring global food safety since it relies on sufficient volume, both for traditional fishing aimed at direct human consumption and for fish meal production," Flores told El Peruano official gazette.
"Definitely, Peru is the main fish producer at the continental level and one of the largest worldwide," he indicated.
However, he mentioned catches experienced a decrease due to possible impacts of climate change and El Niño phenomenon.
"Nonetheless, in the international context Peru remains a front-row player essentially thanks to fish meal production," Flores stressed.
Malnutrition
At the same time, the officer affirmed Peru relies on significant fish production volume, which could contribute to reducing malnutrition rates across the country.
It must be noted the Inca nation holds the second-highest per capita fish consumption in the region only behind Guyana.
Moreover, Flores stressed that government-run "A comer pescado" (Let's eat fish) program contributes to nurturing people in most need.
"This is an essential program; besides, it builds better healthy-eating habits, which help prevent diseases [...]," he expressed.
Aquaculture
On the other hand, the FAO representative assured that the Peruvian government is heading in the right direction towards development in the aquaculture sector.
Such remarks were made during his participation in the 14th Session of the Commission for Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture of Latin America and the Caribbean (COPESC).
(END) DOP/RGP/HMC/MVB