Peru Guards Its Guano as Demand Soars Again - NYTimes.com

Guano is always in my heart, who knew it would be back in the news?

My globalization students will be interested to think of Guano in light of the Guano Act of 1856 -- the U.S. first piece of extraterritorial imperial legislation. Everybody else can just think of guano in the more commonplace way.


Peru Guards Its Guano as Demand Soars Again - NYTimes.com: "The anchoveta, a six-inch fish in the anchovy family, is the main food of the seabirds who leave their droppings on these rainless islands. The biggest fear of Peru’s guano collectors is that commercial fishing fleets will deplete their stocks, which are increasingly wanted as fish meal for poultry and other animals as demand for meat products rises in Asia.

While the bird population has climbed to 4 million from 3.2 million in the past two years, that figure still pales in comparison with the 60 million birds at the height of the first guano rush. Faced with a dwindling anchoveta population, officials at Proabonos are considering halting exports of guano to ensure its supply to the domestic market.

Uriel de la Torre, a biologist who specializes in conserving the guanay cormorant and other seabirds, said that unless some measure emerged to prevent overfishing, both the anchovetas and the seabirds here could die off by 2030.

“It would be an inglorious conclusion to something that has survived wars and man’s other follies,” Mr. de la Torre said. “But that is the scenario we are facing: the end of guano.”"

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