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The Pacific Humboldt Current is one of the richest and most productive large marine ecosystems in the world, extending from the west coast of northern Peru to the southern tip of Chile. The region possesses a small continental shelf extending just a few miles off the coast before steeply descending thousands of meters into the deep sea.

This system produces a strong coastal upwelling, which lifts submarine currents from the dark depths of the southeastern Pacific to the ocean's surface, bringing with it a vast quantity of nutrients. This upwelling makes the Humboldt Current the most productive marine area on the planet, allowing Peru to be the world's second largest fish producer after China. With neighboring country Chile ranking eighth, these two countries combined capture roughly 11 million tons of fish per year, equivalent to 12% of the world's total catch and roughly 50% of the global pelagic fish catch.

The green nutrient rich waters off Chile and Peru are home to extensive marine biodiversity. In Peru alone there are more than 1400 species of marine mollusks, more than 1000 species of fish, around 600 species of crustaceans and 30 species of whales and dolphins (equivalent to 37% of the world's cetacean species). There are also marine mammals like the Southern Sea lion (Otaria byronia) and the South American Fur seal (Arctocephalus australis), as well as the endemic marine otter (Lontra feline). Although marine turtles do not breed on Chilean or Peruvian beaches, four of the world's seven highly endangered sea turtles feed in these waters. The health and protection of this region is crucial for their survival.

This region is also home to a great number of endemic bird species including the endangered Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldtii) and the highly threatened Peruvian Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides garnotii), whose entire population is concentrated on four small rock islands along the coast of Peru and Chile. Other endangered birds such as Albatross and Petrels travel thousands of kilometers from their breeding grounds to feed in the offshore areas of the Humboldt Current.

Weather phenomenon's like El Nino/Southern Oscillation place extreme pressure on the ecosystem. Ocean temperatures in the region vary between 12 and 18 degrees Celsius, while the subtropical marine current that influences the northern Peruvian coast has a water temperature of around 22 degrees Celsius. During El Nino, nutrient poor equatorial warm water currents push southwards along the Peruvian coast; the Humboldt Current is pushed westward away from the shoreline. This causes anchovies, a key element in the marine food chain, to die and descent into the cold underlying currents or be taken away by the Humboldt Current. In the past this has lead to clasped fisheries. This process also decreases the food supply of the top marine predators, which depend on anchovies for their survival. Death rates increase dramatically affecting entire populations of marine birds, penguins, sea lions and fur seals.

Natural events combined with pressures from human activity create a very challenging situation for marine life. With the development of the industrial fishmeal industry, millions of tons of anchovies are extracted every year. As a result, during the last 60 years many marine bird populations have declined by 95% due to the lack of food. Sea lion and fur seal populations, as well as Humboldt penguins have suffered the same consequences. According to the IUCN, the Humboldt penguin may go extinct in less than 20 years if no decisive action is taken to improve the protection of the species.

An increasing number of local fishermen and poor fisheries management has resulted in a dramatic extraction of fish and mollusk species. These actions have lead to the commercial extinction of several species in the area. Other threats such as illegal killing of dolphins (an estimated 3000 per year), penguins, sea turtles and other marine birds, like pelicans and cormorants, for human consumption in Peru remain a serious problem. Destructive fishing methods such as dynamite fishing cause sever damage to marine life.

In recent years land based pollution or run-off has become a serious problem. Direct discharge from sewage from both land based activities and the fishmeal industry has caused the biological death of several marine bays in Peru and Chile. Fish farming is creating the same problem in the region's fjords and channels.

For more information on marine conservation in the Humboldt Current, please visit
www.mundoazul.org. Mundo Azul is a Peruvian conservation group committed to protecting the marine life of the Humboldt Current.

Page 2 | Humboldt System: Conservation in Action