Sonie A s p e c t s of Conservation

.v of

Pejerrey Resources i n Lago Poopo

B. S. Min

Fisheries Research ana Development Agency

Fisheries Office, R. 0 . K.
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1. A i 111

Studies on f e a s i b i l i t i e s of conservation measures

- hatc.hery operation, es t a b l i shment of aquacluture

research station - for pejerrey ( iB. b o n a r i e n s i s )

resources i n Lago Poopo, and o f processing facilities

for additional valúes on t h e pejerrey catches.

2. Date

From 13 November to 12 December, 1987

3. L o c a t i on

Lago Poopo, O r u r o , Solivia

4. Environment

Lago Poopo is located between latitudes 18°21'

and 1 9 ° 1 0 ' S . and between longitudes 66°50' and 57°24

W., It occupies a very shallov/ depression i.n t h e Al-

tiplano only a few i n e t e r s below the g e n e r a l level

of the surrounding l a n d and i s nov;here more t h a n 6

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 (Forster, 1985). The mean s u r f a c e area of the lake

has n o t been e x a c t l y measured b u t e s t i m a t e d greater

t h a n 600 Km2 i n 1985 (Forster, 1985) or 2500 Km^ a t

low sfage (Encyc1opaedi a B r i t a n i c a , 1970 ) .

ít is very shallow but wide lake and consequen-

tly susceptible to environmental factors in its

limnological characters. The d i mate of the región

is cold and a r i d w i t h extreme temperatures in win-

ter reaching several degrees below ¿ e r o , and in

summer, 20°C (Forster, 1985). The annual precipita-

tion is a r o u n d 300 mm and e v a p o r a t i o n is'of the or-

der 1500 mm (Carmouze et a l , 1977).

' The main inflow t o Lago Poopo i s f r o m Lago Ti-

t.. v-- ticaca via the Rio D e s a g u a d e r o , and t h e o n l y visi-

ble outlet moves u n d e r n e a t h the sand and empties

inte the Sala de Coipasa via the Rio Lacajahuira.

The l a r g e r part of the infolw of the lake seems

to be e v a p o r a t e d providing,the salinity h i g h up to

7 - 20 7 o o (Min, Oec. 1987 ) .

I
The d r o u g h t and s u b s e q u e n t drying up of Lago

Uru Uru and t h e c o n s i d e r a b l e regression of Lago

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 Poopo in 1983 (Forster, 1985), and t h e inundation

making the lake reach somecimes almost to Oruro,

fully 30 m i . froni t h e low-water shore (Encyclopae-

dia Britanica, 1970) are b e l i e v e d t o be alternative

and u n i s o l a t e d events. In a d d i t i o n to seasonal

cahnges, f 1 u c t u a t i o n s of 1 imno1ogica1 and fisheries

-biological parameters of the lake can be extreme

in such a s h a l l o w and c o n f i n e d lake.

5. Pejerrey Resources and Fishery

The p e j e r r e y was f i r s t introduced t o Lago Poopo

in 1963 f r o m t h e b r a c k i s h waters of the River Píate

basin. By 1965 an i m p o r t a n t fishery over the spe-

(

cies had d e v e l o p e d (Forster, 1985).

- The p e j e r r e y fishery in the lake is basically

subsistent and c a r r i e d out by a b o u t 900 fishermen

»

resident along the shore of the lake. All of the

fishermen a r e members o f c o - o p e r a t i ves.

The f i s h e r m e n use s m a l l boats of 5-7m1ong,

which a r e made o f galvanized iron s h e e t on wooden

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frames and e q u i p p e d w i t h , i n most c a s e s , out-board

engines. Some b o a t s are m o b i l i z e d by s a i l s or by

oars. Floating gill-nets of 0.9mwide and 100 -

300m Tong a r e used by ene or two f i s h e r m e n in a

boa t .

The a n n u a l catchs of pejerrey from 1978 t o 1987

f r o m Lago Poopo a r e as follows:

Catch (tons) Rema rk s

1978 2 98

1979 250

1980 300

1981 350

1982 234

1983 Drought, fish-

1984 - ing iinpossible

1985 80

1986 260

•n»' 1987 1,000 ' Estimated

Marketabi 1 i t y of the pejerrey catches in dome-

stic markets dees not seem t o be p r o s p e r o u s . The

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Solivian people is traditionally meat-eaters and

fish consumption in domestic market is very small.

In La P a z , the annual fish consumptions from 1981

to 1984 were ranged 8 4 0 - 1 , 7 0 0 tons. The pejerrey

catches are sold at about one B o l i v i a n o (t 0.5 U.S.

dollar) per Kg.by the fishermen. Because of the

transportation probl em, 1 i t t l e of the fish can be

sold out of Altiplano.

6. Pollution of Lago Poopo

There are heavy m e t a l mines extensively scatter-

ed i n the región of Altiplano, High concentration

levels of various heavy m e t á i s have been detected

in w a t e r , sediinents and p l a n t samples taken from a

number o f streams and r i v e r s that flow into Lago

Poopo (Beveridge, 1983). It'is still not known what

the relative proportions of heavy m e t á i s are enter-

ing the lake through erosion of mineralized outcrops

and by i n d u s t r i a l processi.ng of ores (Forster, 1985)

As shown i n Table 1, 2, and 3 , the concentration

levels of a wide range of heavy m e t á i s and nutrients

in m a t e r i a l s sampled from t h e c o n f i n e d lake are un-

usually high campa r e d w i t n available data from in-

dustrially contaminated lakes i n N o r t h America and

Europe." C o n c e n t r a t i ons of silver cobalt, copper, ch-

r o m i u m , manganese, nickel, and t i n are 4 - 4 0 times

higher in the fihes f r o m Lago Poopo t h a n t h o s e from

Canadi an 1akes .

Table 1. The c o n c e n t r a t i o n s (mg/i) of dissolved nu-

trients i n Lago Poopo and w o r l d range (
Goldman and H o r n e , 1983)

Lago Poopo World range

SÍ02 95.0 - 124 .0 0 .3 - 26.0

so^ 5 70.0 - 625 .0 0 .2 -• 9,000.0

C1 28.0 - 54 .0 0 .1 -• 1 7 , 5 0 0 . 0

NH4 0.2 7.5 0 .0 - 2.5

N03 15.0 - 20 .0 0 .0 - 2.5

P04 20.3 - 47 . 5 0 .0 - 0.23

s .:
K .. ....
í.
Table 2 The c o n c e n t r a t i o n s (ppin) of d i s s o l v e d me
tais i n Lago Poopo and i n w o r l d lakes (
Forster and W i t t m a n n , 1981)

•
..Lago' •Poopo World lakes

Pb 0 . 0 6 •- 0.71 0.0002

Cu 0 - 0.10 0.0018

Ag 0 - .0.11 0.0003
Cd 0 - 0.07 0.0007

Co 0 . 0 5 •- 0,45 0.0005

Ni 0.03 - 0.59 0.0003

Cr 0 - 0'. 11 0.0005

Sb 0.50 - 2.90 0.0001

Fe 0.11 - 1 .46 0.030

Mn 0.03 - 0.11 0.0005

Zn 0.07 - 17.0 0.0003

t-i-íS
 Toble 3. The j c, o n c . e n t r a t i ü n s (ppm) o f heavy m e t á i s
i n t i s s u e s o f p e j e r r e y from Lago Poopo
(Mathis and Cummings, 1973) and i n those
f r o m Canadian freshwaters ( U t h e and Bligh,
1971).

Fish from Fish from

Lago Poopo Canadian freshwater

Pb 3 . 08 •- ' 5 . 93 0.5

Cu 1 . 55 3. 81 0 . 70 1 . 28

Ag 0 . 38 - 0. 50

Cd 0 . 13 0.,53 0. 05

Co 0.,57 1,,14 0,,03 • -• 0 . 45

Ni 0,.65 - . 2 ,,72 0,.2

••í V^tiílKlk^^^ Cr 0 .38 0 .93 0 .017 •• 0 . 065

Sb 6 .92 - 19 .55 0 .0022 •- 0. 0043

Fe 26 .05 - 56 .88

Mn 2 .78 - 16 .09 0 .02 - 3. 16

Zn 50 .00 - 101 .92 0 .12 - 20

Sn 33 .41 - 71 .90 0 .54 - 3,.57

 7. Requests of Solivian Government and Fishermen

1) Government

° Support tó establishing a research station

for fisheries biological research on peje-

rrey resource i n Lago Poopo

« Support to constructing an a q u a c u l t u r e re-

search station or hatchery for pejerrey

and t r o u t in Poopo r e g i ó n and s u p p o r t to

related feasi.bility s t u d y and research

" Suppot to constructing processing facil-

ity for pejerrey catch for exportation

2) Fi shermen

o Trainning of fisheries tecfiñiques

° Help for blanket-purchase of fishing gears

•

sush as g i l l - n e t , outboard engine, and

boat etc. through the fishermen's co-op-

erative organization from Korean producers

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7. Requests of Bolivian Government and Fishermen

1) Government

° Support tó establishing a research station

for fisheries biological research on peje-

rrey resource i n Lago Poopo

° Support to c o n s t r u c t i n g an a q u a c u l t u r e re-

search station or hatchery for pejerrey

and t r o u t i n Poopo r e g i ó n and s u p p o r t to

related feasi.bility s t u d y and research

o Suppot to constructing processing facil-

ity for pejerrey catch for exportation

2) Fi shermen

o Trainning of fisheries techniques

° Help for bl anket-purchase of fishing gears

sush as g i l l - n e t , outboard engine, and

boat etc. through the fishermen's co-op-

erative organization f r o m Korean producers

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* Gill-net : 0.9mwide, niesh s i z e U".

and 3"

* Boat : Galvanized iron sheet on wooden

frame , 300 U.S. dol1ars

* Outboard engine : 14 , 1 , 2 0 0 U.S. dollars

8. "Trout h a t c h e r y i n Lago Titicaca

Japanese government supported to c o n s t r u c t a trout

hatchery on t h e shore of Lago T i t i c a c a . They carried

•out f e a s i b i l i t y study in 1984, began t o construct

the hatchery in 1986 and c o m p l e t e d in 1987. Japanese

specialist will carry out pilot production from 1988

to 1989. Commercial production is scheduled from

1990.

Limnological and e n v i r o n m e n t a l characters of Lago

Titicaca are quite different from t h o s e of Lago Poopo.

Trout culture and r e s o u r c e conservation through ha-

tchery operation will be f e a s i b l e . Especially, the

hatchery has a l s o trainning facility for technique

extensión and r e s e a r c h facility w h i c h w o u l d be ser-

vi ceabl e .

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 g- 1

Bolivian g o v e r n m e n t wants a similar support by

Korean g o v e r n m e n t for the pejerrey resou^ce in Lago

poopo j u s t like Japanese government did i n Lago Ti-

ticaca.

íf 9. Conclusions

g, 1) Support to c o n s t r u c t i o n of a research station

f .'.-i '•-*r - •ritiHitr^iMij.i

• and r e l a t e d research for pejerrey resource

i n Lago Poopo is not feasible. The constrain-

ts derived from the extreme fluctuations of

ecologicai and l i m n o l o g i c a l parameters on pe-

fe jerrey resource i n Lago Poopo is far away

f r o m any e f f o r t s for active conservation of

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the resource.

2) Support to construction of pejerrey process-

ing facility for exportation is not feasible.

<

The a n n u a l landing of the fish f r o m Lago Poo-

po i s less than 1,000 tons. The l a n d i n g pla-

ces of the fish are a l l scattered around the

lake, and i t takes hours from one p l a c e to

another by t r u c k through unpaved roads or

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 rrii i.>

t h r o u g h muddy f í a t s along the shore. And

fishing seasons are irregular. These condi-

tions provide relatively large incidental ex-

penses for the processing procedures and de-

crease the rate of operation of the facility.

Also the heavy m e t a l contamination of the

lake and t h e fish makes it difficult to exp-

ort the fish products from the lake.

h..
3) Support to construction of a research station

or hatchery for trout and p e j e r r e y in the

Poopo r e g i ó n is not feasible. And d e v e l o p m e n t

of aquaculture for these species is neither

feasible. In the región there is no w a t e r

resource enough i n amount and i n quality for

fish culture. The s i z e of the domestic mar-

ket is small and t h e prices of the fishes are

rélalively low in comparison w i t h the prices

of the m a t e r i a l s necessary for aquaculture.

s
Most o f m a t e r i a l s foV f e e d and construction,

and g e a r s must be imported.

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— — — — " " ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ " ^ ^ I T M i W M i — M I I _ I MI • _ . .. „

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4) To i n c r e a s e the income o f the fishermen from

their catch, t h e y need t e c h n i q u e for increas-

ing additional valué to their catch rather

• than techniques for increasing the catch it-

self.

P e j e r r e y was f i l l e t e d , seasoned, and dried

e x p e r i m e n t a l 1 y . The d r i e d p e j e r r e y was pro-

per in taste and t e x t u r e as a f i s h product.

The p r o c e d u r e s of drying fish are q u i t e sim-

ple and do n o t need s p e c i a l facilities ñor

skills.

5) Help for blanket-purchase of fishing gears

such as g i l l - n e t , boat and o u t b o a r d engine

etc. through the fishermen's co-operative or-

ganization f r o m Korean p r o d u c e r s w o u l d be

useful i f it i's possible.

10. Recommendations

1) Limnological study and p o l l u t i o n monitoring

system i n Lago Poopo had b e t t e r be initiated

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I i n advance of any t r i a ! on c o n s e r v a t i o n and

aquaculture of, pejerrey.

MTTñíiiTntmTOi'^^ increse additional valué of the pejerrey

catch, drying process w o u l d be reasonable.

No s p e c i a l facility, skill, and m a t e r i a l s are

^ . •• ' necessary. And t h e a r i d climate of Altiplano

K will help the fishermen. They can process

their catch by t h e m s e l v e s in their village

• yard.
Vi;

j;., An i n v i t a t i o n of a proper p e r s o n , who will

h work on e x t e n s i ó n service for the ' fishermen

on his return, t o Korea for trainning on the

procedure of drying fish can be expected.

3) The r e q u e s t of the fishermen on t h e blanket

purchase of the fishing g e a r s made i n Korea

through their co-operative organization will

help them and s h o u l d be r e g a r d e d if possible.

-•'¿-.'U Alt."

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