SITUATION TASK

You are the lead fisheries biologist for a powerful and well established fishing company. Your team is comprised of an economist, fisheries technician, and you, the biologist. Your company plans to deploy a fleet of fishing vessels to harvest anchovy off the coast of Peru.

You know that the Peruvian anchovy industry collapsed in the early 1970's, but are unsure what caused the collapse and whether the anchovy stock has recovered. Your team needs to determine whether it will be economically viable for your company to invest time, resources, and assets into harvesting these anchovies.

 

As the fisheries biologist, you need to present the scientific aspects of this investment. Your team needs you to determine:

  1. Why is the Peruvian coast an ideal fisheries location?
  2. What caused the collapse of the Peruvian anchovy industry in the 1970’s?
    • How did this happen, and can it happen again?
  3. Could the collapse have been prevented? Why or why not?
  4. It has been 30 years. Is this industry recovering and economically viable?
INFORMATION
Your staff has compiled the following data set about Peru and its marine ecosystem for you. As the scientist on this investigation, you need to determine what information is relevant to your study. The information was taken from research articles, newspaper and web clippings, and technical reports. Use the information to help make your connections and formulate your line of logic. There are "connecting prompts" throughout the pages to help stimulate your thinking process. These are indicated in orange.

This web site was created by Lynn Tran at the North Carolina State University, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education on 7/12/03. Faculty advisor Dr. David Eggleston, NCSU, Department of Marine, Earth, & Atmospheric Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2003 .