Small though we are individually, the Anchovy looms large in both domestic and international politics, since we feature so substantially in the economies of many countries. The Schoolmarm
EU fisheries ministers agree on 2005 quotas
Brussels wanted to impose a "precautionary" 85 percent cut in the EU [European Union] catch of anchovies in the Bay of Biscay off western France. But under pressure from France and Spain, this was changed to just 10 percent in the Dutch compromise. (Reuters News Service, December 22, 2004. For the full story, click here.)
Peru resumes anchovy fishing after seasonal ban
LIMA, Peru Peru has lifted a seasonal fishing ban for anchovy, used to make its leading marine export, fishmeal, the government said this week.
Fish and fish products are key export goods for Peru, and the sector's exports rank second only after mining. . . . On April 19, fishing was returned to the provisional program, which allows for normal marine extraction but gives the government flexibility to enact protection measures. . . . Production of fishmeal, which is used to feed chickens, ducks, sheep and cattle, rose 11 percent to 1,819,300 tonnes in 2002 from the previous year. Peru's biggest fishmeal customer is China. (Reuters News Service, April 24, 2003. For the full story, click here.)
Fish deal was 'best possible'
Fisheries minister Elliot Morley has said the UK has won "the best deal possible" in talks which have slashed European fish catch quotas. . . .
The talks saw French fisheries and agriculture minister Jean Glavany fresh from bruising encounters with Britain over beef storm out before the end of the meeting when he was denied a bigger anchovy quota. (BBC News, December 17, 1999. For the full story, click here.)
See Fisheries Policy and the Cofradías in the Basque Country: The Case of Albacore and Anchovy by Kepa Astorkiza, Ikerne del Valle, and Inmaculada Astorkiza (1998) for insight into the political implications of the Anchovy in Basque culture.
This paper, "The New Economic Model and Fisheries Development in Latin America," by Andy Thorpe, Alonso Aguilar Ibarra, and Chris Reid, delivered at the 1999 conference "Marine Environmental Politics in the 21st Century" held at the University of California, Berkeley, explores at length the role of the Anchovy in Latin American politics.