Lima (AFP) – Industrial anchovy fishing is suffering a “very hard blow” in Peru, the world's main producer, due to the warming of the Pacific Ocean caused by the ongoing El Niño climatic phenomenon, the National Fishing Company announced to AFP.
Published on: 01/09/2026 - 09:43
Peru's Marine Institute (Imarpe) reported temperatures up to 6°C above normal in some marine areas, forcing anchovies, which live in cold waters, to move deeper.
Some 32,800 tonnes of anchovies were caught in May 2026, a figure in free fall compared to the 1.3 million tonnes taken in May 2025, according to data from the Ministry of Production.
“It’s a very hard blow for the sector,” warned Jessica Luna, the president of the National Fishing Society, which represents industrialists in this sector.
Anchovies, Peru's main fishery resource, constitute the raw material for fishmeal, used to feed farmed animals and to nourish the soil.
According to a study by the Apoyo firm, commissioned by the National Fishing Company, fishing and the industries that depend on it represented 2.1% of Peruvian GDP in 2025 but will only contribute 1.1% in 2026.
On Monday, dozens of anchovy fishing boats were immobilized in the gray waters of Callao, in the port of Lima, deprived of activity, AFP noted.
Same thing in Chimbote, a large fishing town more than 400 kilometers north of Lima. “Some of us now dedicate ourselves to public transport, to masonry, to working in the mines,” explains fisherman Santiago Bocanegra, referring to the members of the union he leads who can no longer go out to sea.
Although the government officially ended the anchovy fishing season on August 19, industrial vessels have not ventured offshore since May, due to lack of resources, according to the unions interviewed.
Some 8,000 industrial fishermen are registered in Peru, but this activity also generates thousands of jobs on land.
Under normal conditions, a second fishing season would begin in November but it is now uncertain, explains Jessica Luna. “As we already know from the projections,” that month “El Niño will begin with force and fury,” she laments.
The El Niño climate phenomenon causes ocean temperatures to rise cyclically, causing droughts and floods.
The current episode, which will be worse than those of 2015, 1997 and 1982, will reach its peak by the end of the year and will generate record heat globally in 2027, according to scientific estimates.
© 2026 AFP
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