Local authorities have reported that the water reached the beaches, damaging flora and fauna such as crabs. Small-scale fishermen also claim to have been affected.

Peru's government has declared an environmental emergency in an area where an oil spill from state oil company Petroperú has affected wildlife and at least seven beaches in the north of the country, the Environment Ministry said Thursday.

The spill occurred last weekend during crude oil loading operations at the Talara refinery in the Piura region, affecting approximately 10,000 square meters of seawater, the environmental watchdog (OEFA) recently said in a preliminary report.

The Environment Ministry said in a statement that the 90-day emergency is intended to "guarantee the sustainable management of the area and the execution of recovery and remediation work to mitigate environmental contamination."

Local authorities have reported that the water reached the beaches, damaging flora and fauna such as crabs. Small-scale fishermen also claim to have been affected.

"We have already been without fishing for six days, my brothers and sisters. What has happened in Lobitos is chaos. So far we have no response from this oil company," said artisanal fisherman Martín Pasos, to local radio RPP .

Petroperú said Wednesday that it had deployed clean-up brigades since the spill and was coordinating actions with the fishermen's union and authorities to ensure that economic and tourist activities in the area could continue as normal.

The company also said in a statement that it is keeping its cleaning staff in the affected beach area and that it is using boats and drones to "carry out preventive monitoring to ensure the early detection of any eventuality."