Peru confirms 1 November launch for anchovy fishery’s second season

A pile of anchovies on a Peruvian boat
Peru's Production Ministry has set a 2.51-million-metric-ton total allowable catch for the season starting 1 November | Photo courtesy of Peru Ministry of Production
4 Min

Peru’s Production Ministry (PRODUCE) has announced that the second anchovy-fishing season of 2024 will begin on 1 November, establishing a total allowable catch (TAC) of 2.51 million metric tons (MT) for the season in the North-Central zone of the Peruvian coast.

The move confirmed reports from the Peruvian Sea Institute (Imarpe) – a technical branch of PRODUCE – that the anchovy biomass in the Peruvian sea is healthy, with positive prospects for a successful second anchovy-fishing season in the North-Central zone.

Peru divides its anchovy-fishing areas into two regions – South and North-Central – with different capture limits and seasons set for each. The North-Central zone is Peru’s main fishing region, with capture measuring several times that of the South region.

Imarpe recently highlighted that anchovy landings in the North-Central zone’s first season, which wrapped up over the summer, reached 98 percent of the PRODUCE-established 2.48 million MT TAC. PRODUCE Minister Sergio González Guerrero highlighted that the most recently established quota is the third-highest second-season allowance offered in the last decade.

“In economic terms, it will represent more than USD 1.3 billion [EUR 1.2 billion] in foreign currency. Having a commodity like anchovy for indirect human consumption drives one of the most productive and efficient industries in the country, such as fishmeal and fish oil,” he said. 

Peru’s anchovy fishery is responsible for about 20 percent of worldwide fishmeal production.

Results from the second season will represent 0.8 percent of the nation’s GDP and 8 percent of national exports. Over 49,000 people work throughout the country’s anchovy production chain. 

The fishing season – which will come to an end once the TAC is reached or when Imarpe recommends closure due to environmental or biological circumstances – will involve about 700 vessels, González added.

The global importance of Peru’s anchovy fishery was recently the subject of a documentary entitled “Leading the Way: How SNP is Advancing Anchoveta Management in Peru.” The documentary was part of Ocean Titans, a series of films put on by the World Ocean Council centered around the importance of ocean preservation.


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