The practice of aquaculture of tropical fishes has recently doubled in the different districts and communities in the Apurimac and Ene River Valley (VRAE), and this economic activity has become a practical and cost-effective alternative in this area dominated by the illegal coca cultivation and drug trafficking operations.
Living in Peru reports that the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP) started this project two years ago, repopulating the rivers with tropical fishes, and providing technical assistance to municipalities, so the aquaculture can soon become an alternative, cost-effective activity to the coca cultivation.
With almost no promotion, there are 15 hectares of lakes and ponds in spread in 17 communities, with thousands of fish that breed in only a few months.
This is expected to be an opportunity to fight malnutrition in schoolchildren and pregnant mothers, and it also represents a very good alternative business.
Aquaculture Progressively Spreading in Rural Areas
PERU - A research project by the Amazon Research Institute is successfully encouraging local people to take up aquaculture rather than coca farming.
