World Aquaculture September 2018

WWW.WA S.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEP TEMBER 2018 39 area of ​832,974 ha is estimated to be available and suitable for fish farming, agricultural and forestry activities, and these activities can be complementary. Considering the type of terrain, accessibility, water quality and temperature, an additional 30,000 ha is available in the departments of Junín, Huánuco, Ucayali, Amazonas, Pasco, Ayacucho, and Cajamarca, where tilapia could be cultivated in different systems (Fig. 6). Future Scenario for Tilapia Culture in Peru Peru has very good conditions for the growth and expansion of tilapia culture, with special emphasis on Amazonian environments. Likewise, in the world there are available technologies for production intensification and for efficient water use through recirculation systems and complementary aquaponic systems. The small- and medium-scale producers of San Martín intend to formalize their relationship with the government, improve their production systems, improve seed quality and intensify their crops, representing a short- and medium-term opportunity to increase crops of tilapia. The presence of the National Fisheries Health Organization in production areas work to ensure the health and safety of the crops, being an aspect that provides security to national and international markets. Considering the current production area and taking into account the growth rate of tilapia crops (7.1 percent), and the growth rate of Peruvian aquaculture (11.6 percent) (Mendoza 2016), we can project to 2025 that tilapia harvests could conservatively reach 6,500 t and potentially 12,000 t. Also, considering that a normative change could expand the cultivation areas of the Amazon and that the adaptation of technologies favor the development of their crops, it is optimistically projected that tilapia production could reach 27,000 t by 2025 (Fig. 7). The study “Evaluation of the Impact of the Introduction of Exotic Species in the Huallaga River Basin,” elaborated by the IIAP, concludes that the physical and biological factors that hinder the acclimatization and installation of tilapia in the natural environments of this basin is the considerable speed of the current of the water courses and its predominantly stony riverbed, different from the original preferred habitats of tilapia, and the high fish biodiversity favor full occupation of ecological niches (IIAP 1998). The presence of predators and the opportunistic nature, in terms of the feeding of many species, makes it more difficult for a foreign species to enter. However, in lentic environments where the species was intentionally stocked, it has become naturalized. In lotic environments, swift currents do not allow successful tilapia nesting. Considering that the rivers in the Amazon are large and that there is a diversity of predatory species that would not allow the expansion of tilapia in natural environments, tilapia crops properly managed in the Amazon could be viable, considering that these should only be done in confined environments (earthen and concrete tanks, geomembrane or fiberglass tanks, in aquaponic systems or RAS systems), with the use of monosex seed and taking into account measures to prevent escapes. Cage systems in natural lentic environments should not be used where the risk of escape and establishment of the species is greater. Acknowledgment The authors thank the School of Marine Biology, of the Faculty of Veterinary and Biological Sciences, of the Scientific University of the South for financing the field trips to the different Amazonian regions of Peru; also Dr. Christian Berger and Ing. Jacqueline Palacios León for the review and contributions provided to this document. Notes Paul M. Baltazar Gurrero, Escuela de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Biológicas, Universidad Científica del Sur, Panamericana Sur Km 19, Villa El Salvador, Perú pbaltazar@ cientifica.edu.pe David Mendoza Ramírez, Experto en Gestión y Desarrollo de la Acuicultura y la Pesca, Lima, Perú Max Castañeda Franco, Escuela de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Biológicas, Universidad Científica del Sur, Panamericana Sur Km 19, Villa El Salvador, Perú. References Baltazar G.P and L.J. Palacios 2015. La acuicultura en el Perú: Producción, comercialización, exportación y potencialidades. Foro Iberoam. Rec. Mar. Acui. VII. 293-305. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277713750_PB_2015_ La_acuicultura_en_el_Peru_produccion_comercializacion_ FIGURE 6. Areas suitable for aquaculture in the Peruvian Amazon (Source: IIAP Thematic Maps). FIGURE 7. Projection of tilapia crops to 2025. ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 4 0 )