June 1, 2006
By Luke Ney, Ph.D.
Pucusana is a poor village located on a picturesque bay on Peru's central coast. Although popular with tourists from Peru's lower-middle class, the main economic activity in this town is small-scale (or artisanal) fishing. Here fishermen risk their lives at sea every day in small boats using hand-thrown nets attempting to make a meager living from whatever fish they can catch.
In recent years, both the effects of El Niño and over-fishing have forced the fishermen in Pucusana to turn to other sources of income to survive, including the taking of dolphins for their meat (known locally as muchame). Peru banned the killing of dolphins in 1996, but because of poverty and a lack of resources to enforce the law, dolphins continue to be hunted and their meat is sold in local fish markets. Unfortunately, this situation is not limited to Pucusana but is common in cities and towns all along Peru's extensive Pacific coastline.
To combat this problem, Humane Society International (HSI) teamed up with Mundo Azul—a local Peruvian environmental organization—and other partners to stem the practice of killing dolphins by promoting "dolphin tourism" with local fishermen as an alternative source of income. As a first step, HSI, Mundo Azul and the Peru Tourism Board (PromPerú) recently launched a series of informational workshops in the cities of Lima and Trujillo on the Peruvian coast, and in the town of Iquitos in the Peruvian rainforest where tourists can see pink river dolphins. These workshops were attended by artisanal fishermen, local tour operators and tourism promoters from the government.
Throughout each of the two-day long workshops, HSI and our partners presented information on the negative effects of killing dolphins and demonstrated the income-generating potential of dolphin tourism. Many of the participants were excited by the prospect of pursuing a dolphin tourism business, especially the local fishermen who recognized both the problem with killing dolphins and the ability of dolphins to attract tourists who want to see local marine wildlife.
In addition to conducting the workshops, members of HSI, Mundo Azul and PromPerú also visited Pucusana and Paracas Bay to observe the dolphins playing and feeding in their natural environment. Not only were we able to see the dolphins who live near the local fishing communities and assess the viability for dolphin tourism, but we also observed Mundo Azul conduct research on the size of the local dolphin populations.
It has long been a problem in Peru that tourism-related revenue often fails to reach the poor residents of local communities visited by tourists. HSI and our partners believe that our dolphin-watching project is the first step in developing a successful tourist industry that will not only provide direct income to the local communities but also enhance the protection of Peru's majestic dolphins.
Luke Ney, Ph.D. serves as senior officer for Trade Capacity Building at Humane Society International.
