Fishmeal factory in Peru. Peruvian production has remained below last year's levels at the start of the year.
Photo: Produce.
After 2025, when IFFO – The Marine Ingredients Organisation reported a slight year-on-year decline in fishmeal and fish oil production, the downward trend continued in 2026.
According to the latest data on marine ingredients market trends shared by the organization in its reports to its members, except for the Denmark/Norway region and the U.S., both fishmeal and fish oil production decreased in the first months of the year.
However, IFFO warned that, despite the positive fishing effort in southern Peru—where the first anchovy fishing season of 2026 has been underway since January—Peruvian production has remained below last year's levels in February as well, leading them to speak of a downward trend for the start of the year.
Based on statistics shared by the organization's members in Peru, Chile, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Norway, the UK, the U.S., South Africa, and Spain—which together account for 40% of global fishmeal production and 50% of fish oil production—, IFFO nevertheless always emphasizes the role of Peru because the South American country alone accounts for around 20% of the world's production of both.
And not only the Marine Ingredients Organization, the assessment report on the fisheries and aquaculture sector of Peru, prepared by the Committee on Fisheries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), presented last week in Lima, was in the same vein.
It not only pointed out that the country is among the world's largest fish producers—with 5.5 million tons in 2022, equivalent to 3% of global fisheries and aquaculture production—but also that 97% of that production comes from marine capture fisheries, which, in turn, depends heavily on Peruvian anchovy, which represents 77% of that marine capture production, and therefore also represents a significant part of the global supply of fishmeal and fish oil, placing the country at the center of international seafood supply chains.
Thus, IFFO and the feed industry in general always have their eyes on Peru and its anchovy season, and, as stated by Enrico Bachis, Market Research Director at The Marine Ingredients Organisation, the next trend-setting data is expected next month.
"The anchovy biomass evaluation in the North-Centre remains underway, with official announcements on quotas and starting dates of the new fishing season in 2026 expected during the first half of April," Bachis explained.
Meanwhile, the other focus of IFFO's analysis of marine ingredients market trends is on China. Both the world's largest aquaculture producer and a leading user of marine ingredients, as the organization recently explained when announcing its upcoming China Summit 2026 in June, the Asian giant is expected to account for 42% of global fishmeal consumption by 2034.
As IFFO's China Director, Maggie Xu, noted, commenting on the event, "China continues to play a central role in the global aquaculture sector, both as the world's largest producer and as a leading user of marine ingredients to support its rapidly developing feed and farming industries."
In this latest report from January-February 2026, IFFO said that domestic production of marine ingredients in China remains moderate at the start of the year.
Its fishmeal imports decreased, while fish oil imports, destined mainly for direct human consumption, increased significantly year-on-year.
Nevertheless, The Marine Ingredients Organisation also said that Chinese domestic aquaculture and aquaculture feed production are estimated to have increased through February 2026 compared to the previous year.
According to IFFO, the demand for aquaculture feed is driven by the current high level of farmed fish inventories held for overwintering.
"Under the current conditions, first-quarter 2026 demand for fishmeal, particularly in the South China market, is expected to show solid year-on-year growth," the organization concluded.