The Sea That Can Rescue Peru

PERU
Saturday, November 29, 2025, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

Peru faces a painful contradiction: we possess one of the richest seas on the planet, and yet, we drag behind us figures for anemia and malnutrition that would shame any nation with our productive capacity. In 2024, it was confirmed that anemia affected 43.7% of children under three years old and that chronic malnutrition in children under five reached 12.1%. In parallel, national fish consumption remains stagnant—according to INEI—at around 17 kilos per person annually, far from what would be expected of a country whose identity and history are intimately linked to the sea.

This paradox reveals a structural flaw: we have not known how to convert our marine wealth into nutritional well-being for our population. Hydrobiological products offer high-quality proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals fundamental for physical and cognitive development. There is no social policy cheaper or more effective than ensuring that children regularly access these foods.

Photo: FIS

However, while Latin America consumes less than half the global average of aquatic products, governments and international organizations do not seem to incorporate the role of fish in the fight against hunger with the necessary urgency. Declarations on commemorative days are not enough; concrete programs are needed to systematically integrate marine resources into nutrition strategies, institutional purchases, and food supply chains. Peru, with its abundance of anchovies, squid, jack mackerel, mackerel, bonito, mahi-mahi (perico), and Amazonian species, should be a protagonist in this transformation.

For this to happen, fishing for direct human consumption must become a non-negotiable axis of our National Policy, with clear and mandatory compliance goals for sector officials, today and tomorrow. Food security cannot be a minor chapter within a cumbersome and ethereal technical document; it must be the compass guiding Peruvian fishing.

Photo: FIS

The evidence already exists. For a decade, the Peruvian Fisheries Technology Institute (ITP) demonstrated that training teachers, health professionals, and fishermen, and promoting the consumption of hydrobiological resources in vulnerable areas, significantly reduced malnutrition and improved child health. This program was recognized by the FAO as the best regional plan and also awarded for its impact. Despite this, it was deactivated due to the pettiness of the Humala government.

It is time to correct this historic error. The state apparatus must address the demands of the sector, eliminating bureaucratic and logistical barriers, improving the cold chain, formalizing artisanal fishing without populism, and promoting the infrastructure that guarantees access to fish in urban, rural, Andean, and Amazonian areas.

Photo: FIS

Citizens also have an inescapable role. Most government plans do not even mention the word "fishing," much less "aquaculture," and almost none incorporate fish as a tool for social development. It is the responsibility of the citizenry to demand that candidates explain what they will do to ensure that marine wealth truly reaches the tables of the country.

The fight against anemia, malnutrition, and poverty will not be won with speeches, but with political decisions that prioritize the most nutritious, abundant, and accessible food we have: fish. Peru cannot continue to allow its sea to remain an unexploited privilege. Food security must be born from our coasts and rivers, and extend to every community in the country. There is no reason for us to remain a rich nation with malnourished citizens. We have the resources, the knowledge, and the history. Only willpower is missing.

No country can aspire to development when its people cannot fill their plate.

Author/Source: Alfonso Miranda Eyzaguirre/Expreso

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www.seafood.media

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