Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Return of the 'Pejerrey' Fish

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 10 2003 (IPS) - – Japan will assist in restoring the population of pejerrey fish in an Argentine lake, the same from which Japanese producers extracted embryos of the species in 1966 to raise — successfully — in their own country. The pejerrey, a smelt fish native to the Chascomús lagoon 200 km south of Buenos Aires, adapted and reproduced without problems in Japan. Pejerrey farming has become a successful business in the Asian country.

But the Chascomús meanwhile has suffered the effects of sewage and industrial run-off and other contaminants, which affect fish reproduction.

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency has contributed 300,000 dollars for a joint effort with Argentine academic institutions to repopulate the lake with pejerrey fish.