The Peruvian government estimates that this year's quota could generate some 90,000 jobs in coastal regions.
Photo: Produce.
Yesterday, Sunday, the Peruvian Ministry of Production (Produce) published the Ministerial Resolution that sets the start of the first anchovy (Engraulis ringens) and white anchovy (Anchoa nasus) fishing season for indirect human consumption in 2025 in the central-north zone of the country. This will begin at 00:00 hours on April 22, that is, on Tuesday of next week.
The announcement came after a thorough assessment of the anchovy biomass by the Peruvian Institute of the Sea (Imarpe), which recommended setting the total allowable catch (TAC) at 3,000,000 tons, the highest quota in the last seven years.
The closure of this first anchovy fishing season 2025 in north-central Peru will come when the maximum quota limit is reached or when Imarpe recommends it due to environmental or biological circumstances.
"With this quota, we not only invigorate one of our most important industries but also generate approximately 90 thousand jobs in coastal regions. Peru needs this kind of good news," stated Peru's Vice Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Jesús Barrientos.
The catches will be added to those of the first anchovy fishing season of 2025 in the southern zone of the country which, as of April 1, had registered a landing of 176,226.11 tons, equivalent to 70.2% of the allocated quota, a historic figure that, with the season still underway, far exceeds the records of previous seasons and consolidates as the best in the last decade in this area.
"Our anchovy is very healthy, currently counting with a biomass of about 11 million tons, mainly due to the fact that the environmental conditions of our sea are neutral," said Vice Minister Barrientos. "This is a season that reaffirms that Peru has a sustainable management and can develop an industrial fishery in a responsible way, using technical criteria and thinking about future generations."
As mentioned, the catch quota was set at 3 million tons based on Imarpe's scientific recommendations. To maintain constant control over the resource, the Peruvian Institute of the Sea plans to conduct additional biomass analyses through the EUREKA LXXVI operation between April 19 and 21, just before the opening of the campaign.
This operation will be carried out with the participation of eight larger-scale steel vessels with a hold capacity of more than 110 cubic meters and four more corresponding to the regime of Law No. 26920, that is, wooden vessels with a hold capacity of up to 110 m3.
In its Ministerial Resolution, Produce reminded that only those vessels with a valid fishing permit for anchovy for indirect human consumption can participate in the campaign - which must use seine nets with a minimum mesh size of ½ inch (13 millimeters) -, and that they must operate outside the areas reserved for artisanal and small-scale fishing.
Likewise, the Peruvian Ministry of Production pointed out that it is mandatory for vessels participating in the campaign to have the Satellite Tracking System for fishing vessels (SISESAT) on board.
This system - mandatory following the change in legislation announced in October - permanently emits satellite positioning signals, identifying and monitoring its exact location, thus ensuring that no IUU fishing activities are carried out in its territorial sea.
Likewise, the Produce resolution also establishes the conditions for processing anchovies for fishmeal and fish oil. The first condition is to have a valid processing license and, moreover, the processing plants must have signed the agreements and contracts established in the framework of the rules governing the 'Surveillance and Control Program for Fishing and Aquaculture Activities at the National Level'.
The Peruvian Ministry of Production also recalled that it is prohibited to receive and process hydrobiological resources from vessels without a fishing permit and from those that do not have a maximum catch limit per vessel for the north-central zone assigned, including those whose permits are suspended.
Neither may they collect raw material from vessels with fishing permits for resources other than anchovy and white anchovy, nor from artisanal and small-scale vessels.
Precisely concerning the production of fishmeal and fish oil - so dependent on the success of the anchovy campaign in Peru as the South American country has historically accounted for an average of 20% of global production - IFFO, The Marine Ingredients Organisation, has expressed its satisfaction with the quota announced by Peru.
"This quota has been the highest since the ones from 2018 (3,319,700 mt) and 2011 (3,675,000 mt) and signals a healthy biomass," stated Dr Enrico Bachis, IFFO's Market research director.
According to IFFO's market intelligence reports - based on statistics shared by IFFO members representing 40% of global fishmeal production and 50% of fish oil production - in February 2025, globally, total cumulative fishmeal production increased by approximately 40% compared to the same period in 2024.
The Marine Ingredients Organization noted that - as the figures in its previous report for January - September 2024 already indicated - this increase was mainly influenced by a significant upturn in Peru, although Chile, the United States, Spain, and African countries also recorded a positive performance compared to January -February 2024.
As for fish oil, according to IFFO figures, total cumulative production through February 2025 increased by 38% year-on-year, also driven mainly by Peru. The other regions recorded a positive trend in cumulative fish oil production compared to January - February 2025, with the sole exception of Northern European countries.
