East of the Andes mountains in the jungle areas bordering Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, there are many rivers and lakes. These rivers descend rapidly from the higher altitudes but as the land becomes more level in the lower areas there are many lakes or “cochas”. These are connected with the rivers during periods of high water but separate bodies of water during the rainy season. This area of Peru which contains a large part of the headwaters of the Amazon is one of the few remaining areas of the world having an abundance of unpolluted fresh water. The wide variety of fish species native to eastern Peru has not been fully inventoried and classified. Some of these fish are utilized for food by the local population and ornamental fishes are exported in large numbers. Molluscs, crustaceans, reptiles and mammals are also very abundant in the Amazon drainage area of eastern Peru. Generally speaking, methods of harvest of these animals are quite primitive and in some cases wasteful of the resources.
There is a need to evaluate the more promising Amazon species in regard to their adaptability to pond rearing. Some of the species which appear to have a good potential for aquaculture purposes are: gamitana, Myletes bidens; zungaro, Pseudopimelodus sp.; acarahuazu, Astronotus ocellatus; sabalo, Brycon sp. and paiche, Arapaima gigas. In addition to these native fishes tilapia, Tilapia rendalli, have been introduced and have proved a valuable species in the few instances where they have been tested.
Much more information is necessary before it would be practical to establish large-scale fish farms. Some basic information is available regarding growth rates for sabalo and gamitana, both of which grow to market size in less than 12 months. Both of these species can be fed quite a wide variety of plant and animal materials. The catfishes of the Amazon in particular, might be suitable for pond-rearing. Paiche, the species of most value per pound, has not been successfully spawned to date at the Peruvian research stations, however, because of its high market value and the possibility that overfishing may seriously reduce the wild population more emphasis should be given to research on this species.
There is a need for development of a low-priced diet for use in feeding the Amazon species of fishes to be reared in ponds and pens. This is necessary if aquaculture production is to become competitive cost-wise with other protein producing industries. Although most wild fish populations utilize high protein natural foods, many fishes can digest vegetable proteins. Limited research on feeding some of the native Amazon species such as sabalo and gamitana has shown that these fishes are omnivorous and therefore may be very useful in converting low priced vegetable feeds into good quality human food. Temperature also appears to be a factor in the ability of fishes to digest the less expensive vegetable proteins, with efficiency of digestion of vegetable matter being most efficient at the higher temperatures.
While the feedstuffs commonly used for commercial feed preparation are not generally available in the Amazon area, there are many locally available materials which offer possibilities for development of suitable feeds.
A prototype fish feed mill in conjunction with the laboratory should be installed at Iquitos.
The survey of fishery problems and the evaluation of possibilities for development of production of food fishes carried out during the past year indicates that there is a potential for producing large quantities of fish for local consumption in eastern Peru. Other sections of the country, i.e., the coastal and sierra sections, present a different set of conditions and cannot be considered in the same context as the Amazon Basin or Selva Area. The coastal area is well supplied with low cost ocean fish which are distributed to the public at a very reasonable price through EPSEP. This Agency also distributes ocean fish to the more inland mountainous areas and although roads are not good it is probably more practical to supply ocean fish to these areas than to embark upon a large-scale production programme of freshwater fish. An exception to the above would need to be made in the case of rainbow trout which are produced in lakes and streams at higher altitudes. This species because of its high market value merits further research.
A research facility is badly needed in the Amazon area to serve as a centre to identify and make an inventory of the large number of fishes of the area. Technical assistance should be provided by FAO to the Ministry of Fisheries to accomplish the following:
design, construct, and initiate operations of a research station near Iquitos to demonstrate intensive fish culture practices for food and ornamental fishes;
develop freshwater fish cultural activities to find those native species or combination of species best adapted to commercial production on a large scale. Included in this activity would be identification and control of diseases, and control of troublesome vegetation;
test locally available foodstuffs to determine which of these can be used for economical production of fish. Because of the general scarcity and quite high prices of ordinary feeds the use of fertilizers should be fully investigated;
encourage greater participation in exchange programmes on an international basis; this should include exchange of personnel and literature.
