Dead zone Bay of Paracas

The Bay of Paracas – Victim of the fishmeal industry

Because of its semi-closed shape, the Bay of Paracas is sensitive to marine contamination. For fifty years the fish meal production plants situated in the north of the bay have discharged every year more than 30,000 tons of protein and 8,000 tons of fish oil, as well as thousands of tons of fish waste from the fishing boats and chemicals used to clean the plants machinery into the bay without any previous treatment. According to a study from the year 2000, the contamination produced every day of production by the seven fishmeal plants equals the domestic sewage of a city of 75,000 inhabitants.

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Page author: Stefan Austermühle

The huge influx of organic sewage exceeds, by far, the bays natural capacity of decomposition. As a result, part of the fat conglomerates to small balls, floating in the water and accumulating on the beach, while the biggest part sinks to the seabed, where it accumulates. Slow anaerobic decomposition creates a toxic environment for marine invertebrates. The explosive growth of algae periodically consumes all the oxygen in the water, causing the death of all marine invertebrates and fish in the area.

A study of Mundo Azul, undertaken in 2003, proved that the floor of the Bay of Paracas is biologically dead. The dead zone, covered with a thick slimy layer of undisolved organic matter and containing high levels of sulfur, stretched over an area of aproximately 17 square kilometers – More then 90 % of the bays surface.

Outdated technology, lack of social responsibility and sheer ignorance and greed on behalf of the fish meal producers has destroyed a natural paradise and threatens to finally destroy the feeding ground of dolphins, sea lions, marine birds, shorebirds and flamingos within the Bay of Paracas, belonging to Peru’s only marine protected area, the National Reserve of Paracas. The satellite picture below, taken in 2003, shows the contaminated waters discharged by the fish meal companies and their distribution in the bay.

Recently the fish meal producers of Paracas, united in Apropisco, took finally a step into the right direction by constructing a 12 kilometer long pipe with the intention to discharge their sewage outside of the bay. This does not fully resolve the problem of marine contamination caused by sewage that first of all should be treated before discharged. There exists technology to recuperate more than 90 % of the protein and use it as a commercial product. But the off-shore discharge relieves at least the bay of some of the marine contamination. However it remains to be seen, what are the long term impacts of this off-shore sewag outlet.

Unresolved remains te serious air pollution caused by the fishmeal industry. When operating the contaminated air smells unbearably over many kilometers of distance, hampering efforts for a creation of a tourism industry in the area. According to a study by Mundo Azul on the economic impact of tourism in Pisco/Paracas this industry secures many more permanent jobs and generates at least $US 7-9 million annually for the local community.

Fish meal production, therefore, has become one of the major obstacle for the sustainable development of the Bay of Paracas. Building a longer pipe and contaminating elswhere is not a satisfactory answer to resolve the problems created by the fishmeal industry in the first place.

The fish meal industry must invests more financial resources in up to date technology, like for example effective sewage treatment in the production plant process, as well as technology to reduce air contamination in order to drastically reduce the ongoing contamination of the bay.

We envision for the Bay of Paracas and the people of Pisco/Paracas a future made off sustainable small scale fisheries and tourism.

Representatives from the fishmeal industry stress that the Bay of Paracas is also contaminated by others and that they are not solely responsible.

And in fact it is true that there are some additional sources of contamination:

The sewage system of the small fishing town of San Andres, located north of the Bay of Paracas is connected to the new sewage system of Pisco. Nevertheless, there are still a number of households that remain disconnected and their sewage is discharged directly into the bay.
The sewage of the military base in San Andres is discharged without treatment into the bay.
Several production facilities in Pisco are not connected to the city’s sewage system and their sewage is discharged untreated into the bay.
There are some smaller fish production plants that process shellfish for human consumption. One plant is dedicated to canned sardines. They do discharge their effluents into the municipal sewage system and according to recent studies, (Whitler, 2000) their sewage does not present a significant source of contamination of the bay.

Even though it is necessary to resolve these problems of untreated sewage discharge, it is important to point out, that these amounts of contamination are comparatively insignificant.

All other possible sources of contamination in the surrounding area do NOT contaminate the bay:

The residential homes in the city of Paracas and the Hotel Paracas do count with their own sewage deposits with drainage systems. None of these systems are connected to the Bay of Paracas.
The effluents of the sewage system of Pisco do undergo intensive treatment in the oxidation lakes. They are then mixed with the water of the river Pisco. The available data on the rivers Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) does suggest that the river does not contribute to the contamination of the Bay of Paracas.
The petroleum plant of Concordia does not have any sewage connection with the sea.
The tourism restaurants along the shoreline do count with their own sewage deposits and are not connected with the sea.
The sewage from the fish processing plants is discharged into sewage deposits.
In San Andres, there is a significant artisan fresh fish processing plant along the beach. Fish waste is thrown into canals that discharge directly into the sea. According to the reports, numbers 148 and 151 of the Peruvian Institute of the Sea (IMARPE), in 1999 the landing of fresh fish in San Andres fishing dock reached 1,247 metric tons. 15% of this can be estimated to be fish waste being discharged directly to the beach. This amount equals 187 tons per year. However, a great part of this is consumed by pelicans and other birds. Additionally, the municipality counts with a crew of workers who clean-up the fish waste from the beach and dump it outside of the bay.
The port of San Martin on the Peninsula of Paracas at the north-western end of the Bay of Paracas is clean and well maintained. A great variety of products are exported and imported on this industrial dock. The most common import products are: corn, wheat, soya, urea, nitrate of potassium, iron and steel, cocoa and chemicals for agriculture. The most common export products are: Fish oil, fish meal, sulfuric acid, industrial salt, wool and cotton. Of these products, only the sulfuric acid and the agricultural chemicals are of potential danger to the environment in case of accidents. The sulfuric acid is produced in Lima and transported by truck to huge tanks in the port. From there, it is pumped into the ship. There are emergency plans in place in case of a possible spill and neutralizing products are on hand. The area of the deposits is equipped with retention walls. The only apparent danger is human error at the moment of discharging the deposits but there is no evidence that so far, any accident has occurred.

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Page author: Stefan Austermühle

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Dead zone Bay of Paracas