The Mobulid ray trade in northern Peru

Many of the fishermen interviewed by us, some months ago, said the Mobulid catches in Tumbes are trade in Lambayeque, both in northern Peru. Last week, I visited two places where Mobulids are trade: San José and Santa Rosa, located 346 Km from Tumbes.

The big market is located in Santa Rosa. There, some persons buy Mobulids and they process it in salted fishes, an ancient way to eat rays and sharks in Peru. Finally, the salted rays are sold in other localities of Lambayeque.

We are interviewing some of those merchants in order to know some characteristics of this activity. Most of them are women and trade rays since their childhood with their mothers.
Also, we inquired why Manta rays are used in this trade. Apparently it did not happen some years ago. Some merchants said some species are disappeared; also they have had to discover techniques to process manta rays and they highlight that Mobulids, especially Manta ray, are cheaper than other species.

This is the activity and also the actors. Part of our work is make evident and quantify it. We will continue to get the data and report it.

Salted Mobulid ray in San José. Lambayeque-Peru.© D. Sarmiento-APECO