Peru's fishmeal season may be delayed to the end of May, with El Nino not affecting southern producing areas

The first anchoveta fishing season in northern and central Peru will start at the end of May, according to the results of a report by the Peruvian Marine Research Institute (Imarpe), Production Minister Raul Perez Reyes told local media on Monday.

"Last week, Imarpe sent a research vessel to monitor the biology of anchoveta in the Peruvian waters to see if it is possible to start the fishing season at the end of May, if there are Marine resources." In terms of aquatic biology, El Nino has yet to affect artisan fisheries on a large scale, Reyes said, and while some species will migrate to cold water, others will migrate from warm waters.

Waters off Peru were about 6 degrees Celsius warmer than normal in April, according to NASA. As for whether El Nino will strengthen further in the coming period, Reyes said it remains to be seen. "We are conducting monitoring efforts to learn more about Cyclone Yaku and El Nino. As for El Nino, we think the chances of strengthening are increasing, but we still need to act because the anchoveta industry creates a lot of jobs."

Reyes clarified that in the Ica to Tacna region of southern Peru, the effect of El Nio-induced warming is much smaller, so the fishing industry will not be affected much.

The productivity of fish meal in southern Peru is much lower than in central and northern Peru, which means that even if the south is not affected, it will not significantly affect the overall production of fish meal.