The Business Year Special Report
Cayetana Aljovín, President, National Fisheries Society (SNP)
SNP has five key focus areas it is targeting: ethics and transparency; better regulations to become more competitive; sustainability; solid relations with communities; and innovation.
How has the pandemic affected SNP, and what challenges has it brought?
It has been a challenging year for everyone, not only businesses, but citizens as well. The main challenge this year was continuing to operate. For Peru, the COVID-19 restrictions were announced in March 15, and typically the maintenance of plants is carried out in March and April. That forced us to design biosecurity protocols that helped our workers conduct their maintenance work on the fleets and plants without being exposed to the virus. We were the first industry to develop biosecurity protocols in Peru, and these protocols were subsequently copied by other industries, which we are extremely proud of. We invested more than PEN40 million to develop these protocols. Health and the economy can work together when all the protocols are present. We were able to start the first fishing season, which was extremely successful, and managed to fulfill 100% of the quota on fishing stocks. We are now in the second fishing season and are operating extremely well. The main challenge was being able to operate in a safe environment, and we have managed to achieve that.
You have to coordinate with many companies and organizations within the fishing sector. What are the key takeaways in this area?
We communicate extremely well with our affiliates. We have many committees related to labor, sustainability, social responsibility, communication, and innovation and work closely with them all. We also have a strong communication plan. We are on social media and write articles in newspapers. We also invest in advertising and many other areas. I was previously a journalist and believe strongly in a clear communication strategy, which SNP is focused on. If people do not know you, they will not believe you. In addition, we have hosted two events this year. We were the host for the second Latin American Summit for Fisheries and Aquaculture Sustainability, an online event attended by people from all around the world, and held another event for Alpesca, an organization from Latin America, where all the chambers in the fisheries sector were involved.
What are the main issues and strategies to ensure a sustainable level of fishing?
Sustainability is a fundamental requirement in the fishing industry. We cannot work without taking the protection of the resources in mind, because without them there is no industry. The law of quotas on fishing stock from 2018 has ensured a stable biomass. Today, the biomass of the Peruvian anchoveta is exactly the same as it was 15 years ago because the industry in Peru invested more than USD500 million in environmental projects. On top of this, the fishing sector respects the fishing bans and restrictions. Third, there is a policy to protect little fish, and fourth in Peru one can only fish 35% of a resource, while the other 65% must remain untouched. Sustainability is in the DNA of the fishing industry. In 2020, we received the Planeta award from the Sustainable Development Goals in support of a program that seeks to protect the sustainability of the product and rescue those fish accidentally trapped in nets. We would like to see other countries replicate this program to make their fishing stock more sustainable.
What are the next steps for 2021, and what projects do you have lined up?
We want to continue with our current efforts. Our main goal is to acquire the certification for the anchoveta, which takes up to 18 months. We are working with small fishers and want to continue working on everything related to sustainability. This sector in Peru is a leader in the circular economy. We seek to reduce the extra costs in the industry that can affect our growth and hinder our competitiveness. Meanwhile, we have also strengthened our compliance policies. We are doing a great deal of work in the area of ethics and transparency and want to continue with that as well.