Cumulative global fishmeal and fish oil production was up year over year during the first seven months of 2024, thanks in large part to a strong first anchovy season in Peru.
Fishmeal production increased nearly 36 percent in January through July compared to the same period in 2023, while fish oil production was up 10 percent over the same time frame, according to IFFO - The Marine Ingredients Organization, a trade group representing several leading fishmeal and fish oil companies.
The organization credited the results to Peru’s “productive” anchovy-fishing season in the country’s north-central zone, when the industrial fishing fleet met the assigned 2.48 million-metric-ton (MT) total allowable catch (TAC).
The successful season also helped sustain operations in other areas that produce ingredients used in fishmeal and fish oil, IFFO noted.
Overall landings in Atlantic fishing grounds remain above 2023 levels, but catches of small pelagic fish for marine ingredients are below levels registered last year in the south of Chile and Northern Europe. Meanwhile, menhaden fishing in the U.S. – a key resource for marine ingredients production – continues to underperform in the Gulf of Mexico.
Data for these catch totals are based on statistics shared by IFFO’s members from Peru, Chile, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the U.S., Spain, and other countries who together account for 55 percent of global marine ingredients production.
Looking ahead, scientists are actively assessing the anchovy biomass in Peru’s north-central zone, which may be completed by mid-October to determine quota moving forward, IFFO reported.
The positive production is a welcome turnaround from a turbulent 2023, but demand for fishmeal and fish oil in such markets as China is questionable.
According to IFFO, fishmeal stocks in Chinese port warehouses reached record levels in September 2024, indicating weaker demand expected for both aquaculture and pig farming in the near future. Fishmeal demand in China usually reaches its zenith in the third quarter to coincide with aquaculture’s peak season, while pig farming enters its peak season in the fourth quarter.
IFFO also noted that prices remain below last year’s levels in China for plant-based feed ingredients, such as soybean meal and rapeseed meal, due to weak market demand.
