Anchovy fishing vessels in the southern Peruvian sea.
Photo by: Produce.
The Peruvian Ministry of Production (Produce) announced this week that in the coming days it will begin 'Operation EUREKA LXXVIII', a scientific assessment whose results will ultimately decide the future of the various anchovy fishing seasons in Peru in 2026.
The operation—in which 22 industrial vessels will participate under the direction of the Peruvian Institute of the Sea (Imarpe)—will allow for obtaining updated information on the distribution, availability and biological condition of anchovy and other pelagic resources, as well as on the oceanographic conditions of the Peruvian sea, in a scenario of environmental variability associated with the El Niño phenomenon 2026-2027.
With fishing suspended since the beginning of June—what was initially going to be a fifteen-day closure was extended indefinitely and remains in suspense—and feed companies like BioMar already mentioning the "raw material supply issues" in their quarterly results reports, all eyes in the industry, not only fishing but also marine ingredients and consequently, feed and aquaculture, are on the outcome of this assessment.
As Produce highlighted in its release, 'Operation EUREKA LXXVIII' is the result of a technical coordination process between Imarpe, the Peruvian National Fisheries Society (SNP) and representatives of shipowners who participated in defining the scientific, operational and logistical components on which the evaluation is based.
Thus, in a coverage organized in north, north-central and south operational zones, whose final distribution will be consolidated by Imarpe, 22 industrial vessels of steel and wood will carry out the research from Talara to Morro Sama, covering from outside 5 miles to 50 miles from the coast.
With these transects defined by Imarpe distributed approximately every 15 miles, the deployment will allow for a biological, oceanographic and hydroacoustic evaluation, in addition to the collection of samples at the points established by the institute's specialists.
The Peruvian Institute of the Sea will be in charge of the scientific management of the entire operation, in which, in addition to distributing the exploration zone, it will be responsible for the planning, coordination, execution, supervision and processing of the information obtained.
Regarding the participating vessels, as the Ministry of Production emphasized, they will carry out exclusively scientific research work, since the proposal stipulates that the fishing and catches have the exclusive purpose of scientific research and not commercial purposes.
Produce noted that the objective of the current edition of Operation EUREKA—the previous one was held in November 2025—is to obtain a true snapshot of the current conditions of the sea and pelagic resources, particularly anchovy.
"We are putting science at the heart of the decisions needed by the fishing sector," said Peru's newly appointed Minister of Production, Juan Carlos Requejo, who took office at the end of July.
"Operation EUREKA will allow us to learn, directly at sea, how the anchovy population is behaving and what the current oceanographic conditions are. This information will be fundamental for making timely, responsible decisions aimed at guaranteeing the sustainability of our resources," he added.
Minister Requejo also emphasized that EUREKA is not a commercial fishing operation. "The vessels will be dedicated exclusively to scientific research, and the samples will be obtained at the locations and using the methodology determined by Imarpe," he noted. "We are working with the sector, but the scientific direction and evaluation of the results are the responsibility of the institute."
The evaluation of the data obtained will allow Imarpe to determine the spatial distribution, concentration patterns, and accessibility of anchovy and other pelagic resources of fishing importance. It will also allow them to understand the size structure, age composition, proportion of juveniles and adults, and other indicators related to their reproductive activity and biological condition.
As Produce highlighted, the need for up-to-date information is especially relevant this year given the oceanographic variability associated with El Niño, because changes in sea conditions can modify the distribution, concentration, depth and accessibility of anchovy schools.
Nevertheless, the operation will go further and will also allow the identification of the presence and distribution of species associated with warm, equatorial and oceanic waters, generating evidence to evaluate their behavior and eventual potential for fishing exploitation in the context of the environmental conditions expected for the period 2026-2027.
Peru's Ministry of Production added that 'Operation EUREKA LXXVIII' will serve to strengthen the generation of scientific evidence to guide the sustainable management of fishery resources, while maintaining permanent coordination with stakeholders in the sector.
"The goal is to have direct, up-to-date and technically sound information that allows for the best decisions to be made for Peruvian fishing," the release noted. However, as mentioned above, the fisheries management decisions made by Peruvian authorities have consequences far beyond the country's fishing industry.
As IFFO – The Marine Ingredients Organisation has pointed out on several occasions, South America, and specifically Peru, are key to the global production and trade of fishmeal and fish oil.
"South America is one of the key hubs of the global fishmeal and fish oil industry, not only in terms of production volumes but also in driving innovation and responsible fishery management practices," said Petter Johannessen, IFFO's Director General, last June when announcing that IFFO's Annual Conference 2026 will take place in October in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In the specific case of Peru, it exemplifies both of these statements since, in terms of volume, the country—whose slow first anchovy season is shaping the global landscape for marine ingredients this year—alone accounts for around 20% of global fishmeal and fish oil production.
Meanwhile, regarding responsible fisheries management practices, Imarpe has recently obtained the international certification ISO 9001:2015, in recognition of the quality and continuous improvement of its scientific processes linked to the sustainability of the anchovy fishery in the country.