September 22, 2008
President of the Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca, Julián Barra, said today that more than 30 thousand informal unregistered small scale mining operations near the world’s highest navigable lake are causing terrible pollution to both it an surrounding rivers.
Lake Titicaca
Barra has solicited the regional authorities of
Puno for help and assistance to better manage and control these informal operations and to catch those discarding waste chemicals and materials into local water sources.
Lake Titicaca possesses the continents largest source of fresh water, and as Barra states, its preservation and protection are likely to be vital for the future of the region. The increases in the lake’s levels of pollution are alarming.
Barra states that the foreign ministries of Peru and Bolivia issued a memorandum in 2006 to take appropriate measures to prevent further contamination of the lake.
It also said, however, that the Ministry of Agriculture has authority over Lake Titicaca - leading to the Ministry of Environment proposing the joint to take control of the lake - slowing down immediate enforcement measures in an attempt to speed them up. Typical of the bureaucracy of Peru.
As for the tourist attraction the lake is, reports of increased stocks of the so-called “golden trout” has seen fishing on the lake grow to become one of the most popular activities for tourists in the past year.
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Posted by Stuart Starrs
April 1, 2008
Trucha, or trout in English, are found throughout the waters of Andean Peru but are not a native species. They were introduced from Canada to supplement the food supply and provide poor Andean communities with a much needed boost of protein in their diets.
Despite not being native, trout have not only survived, but thrived in many places across the country. It seems there’s not an Andean lake or river in which they were introduced where the trout aren’t doing well.
I haven’t visited Canada or tasted fresh Canadian trout, but the soft pink meat of a freshly fried Peruvian trucha is delicious. If you can eat one just seconds after being plucked from the water, all the better, as I found out in the Chillon valley.
Fish farms exist along the banks of many Andean rivers and lakes, mass breeding yet more of this tasty fish species. This one (see photo) in the Chillon valley is typical of those found on rivers. Using the river water itself to fill and filter various tanks for fish of various stages of development, costs are low and fish yield is high.
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Posted by Stuart Starrs
