September 25, 2007

 

Peru's Jan-July fish meal output up 0.6 percent on-year

 

 

Peru's fish meal production rose 0.6 percent to 871,900 tonnes in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period a year earlier, according to figures from the Ministry of Production.

 

In July, Peru produced 18,500 tonnes of fish meal compared with 28,800 tonnes in the same month a year ago.

 

Peru is the world's largest producer and exporter of fish meal, used chiefly as animal feed.

 

The anchovy haul, used to make fish meal, was 3.85 million tonnes in the first seven months of the year compared with 3.81 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2006.

 

The total fish haul was 4.59 million tonnes in January-July compared with 4.54 million in the first seven months of 2006.

 

Peru regularly imposes bans on anchovy fishing to protect the stocks based on findings from the scientific research agency, Imarpe.

 

A seasonal ban is currently in place along most of the Peruvian coast to allow for spawning.

 

According to Production Minister Rafael Rey, Peru could lift the seasonal ban in early November.

 

Moreover, it will likely impose a 2-million-tonne quota for the final two months of the year.

 

"Probably the fishing will not be for more than 2 million tonnes and will begin in the first days of November," Rey told government news agency Andina.