January 20, 2004

Peru November Fishmeal Output Up 2.5%

Peru's fishmeal output in November 2003 registered a total of 237,500 metric tones, an increased of 2.5 percent compared to the same period last year. This increase is attributed to higher catch of anchovies, the main ingredient used to manufacture fishmeal, Peru's Production Ministry said on Monday.

Anchovy hauls rose 4 percent to 1.05 million tonnes in November, the ministry said. But a three-month ban on anchovy fishing earlier this year reduced the total anchovy catch in the first 11 months of the year to 4.94 million tonnes, down 30 percent from the year-ago period.       

Hurt by the ban, which aims to protect fish stocks in the Pacific, fishmeal output in the January -to - November period fell by 29 percent to 1.13 million tonnes from the same period in 2002, the ministry said.       

Fishmeal exports rose 133 percent to 57,800 tonnes in November, compared with the same month in 2002, but exports in the January-to - November period fell 11 percent to 1.2 million metric tonnes, the ministry said.