By Mary Kate McCoy
August 20, 2025
Can these fishermen save a 3,000-year tradition?
7 min
On a sunny morning in January, along the northern coast of Peru, wastewater rushed from a treatment plant into nearby wetlands.
These wetlands hold totora— a type of reed grass — that local fishermen have used for more than 3,000 years to build fishing boats.
More than 45 totora ponds were destroyed. A foul odor filled the air for days during peak tourist season; a local fisherman who was harvesting reeds during the event fell ill for more than three months from the contaminated water.
It was an environmental emergency that shook the small community of fishermen in Huanchaco, a fishing town known for surfing and for its caballitos de totora, the fishing boats made of reeds.
Then it happened again — and again. A second spill two months later driven by heavy rains led to the loss of an additional 33 totora ponds. A third spill in June further exacerbated the damage in the affected ponds.
Although the ponds are within a protected conservation area, the community has yet to see action after the spills — and the threat still lingers.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of these reed ponds to the local fishermen,” said Cynthia Céspedes, a marine biologist at Conservation International-Peru. “Many of the fishermen lost everything during these events; they are really suffering right now.”
A reed pond in Huanchaco. In the distance, cut reeds dry in the sun before they are used to construct boats.
Reed production for the entire year was wiped out from the spills, she continued — an especially devastating outcome, as the boats last only for a couple of months before the fishermen must build new ones. Without this year's crop of totora, they can’t fish, jeopardizing their livelihoods and way of life.
A fisherman surfs on a caballito de totora.
The fishermen say this way of life is a calling. They begin learning to fish as children, often using the boats as surfboards. By the time they’re teenagers, they’re expert fishermen.
“Despite the hard work and adversity, especially with the recent sewage spills, we plan to use caballitos de totoras forever,” said Javier Terrones, president of the Ancestral Fishermen’s Association of Huanchaco. “Totora is the soul of us — it’s the seed our ancestors passed down to us; it’s not just any material.”
Yet, only about 70 of these fishermen remain, and as few as 25 are actively fishing with caballitos de totoras today.
The fishermen face a raft of challenges. Alongside the threat of future spills is competition with other artisanal fisheries that use motorboats and can catch significantly more fish, eating into their fishing grounds and their ability to compete.
Conservation International, with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is working to help ensure this way of life doesn’t disappear. But it’s an uphill battle. In the past, the fishermen of Huanchaco have struggled with empty promises made by the government and NGOs to help.
“Our first step is building trust with the community,” Céspedes said. “Caballitos de totora have brought many tourists to the area and help connect history to the present, yet the community has often felt sidelined and like they have little support to keep this tradition alive.”
In response, Conservation International is supporting the construction of new totora ponds to replace those that were lost in the spill and buffer the supply of reeds for long-term sustainability. So far, 13 new ponds have been built.
“After the spills I felt defeated,” Terrones said. “I thought the destruction from the spills would be the end of our culture, but Conservation International has lifted our spirits and is helping keep the culture alive.”
The fishermen today continue to follow the traditions of those who began this practice 3,000 years ago, which means they need a consistent supply of reeds, as the plant takes a year to mature and the boats last a max of one month. Each family has its own plot within the ponds that they tend for building their boats. Similarly, they also have their own fishing territories along the coast.
In many ways, the totora fishing culture is a family affair. The men catch the fish, and many of their wives and family members serve it in family-run local restaurants.
A restaurant in Huanchaco that serves fish caught using caballitos de totora.
Conservation International is working with these family restaurants to connect the story of their ancient fishing practices with the food they are serving to tourists, Céspedes said. That effort will also extend to hotels and the other restaurants of Huanchaco that sell their fish.
“Huanchaco is known for two things — reed boat fishermen and great surfing,” she said. “They share the same environment and history. Our ultimate goal is for this ancestral fishery to gain recognition as a national cultural heritage site to further protect this legacy.”
The caballitos de totora, typically left to dry along the area’s beaches, have become a major tourist attraction, but the fishermen would remind visitors that their purpose isn’t to decorate the beach — they are the essential tool of their work.
Caballitos de totora line the beaches of Huanchaco.
The fishermen see tourism as the key to their long-term sustainability — from telling their story through food to offering rides and lessons to steer and surf the caballitos to charging for photos of the boats on the shore.
“We’re going to keep fighting for Huanchaco,” said Santos Urcia, a local fisherman. “We were about to lose everything, but now we are united, and we will keep going. The Huanchaco tradition must live on.”
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