From SeafoodMedia, global fishmeal supplies have seen significant growth in 2024 due to strong fishing for small pelagic fish in Peru.

Fishing quotas in north-central Peru reached nearly 5 million tons for both years, a significant increase from 1.3 million tons in 2023.

Despite the surge in feedstock used for reduction, fish oil production from Peruvian catches remains low and existing reserves are largely depleted. As a result, the fish oil market remains constrained, while fishmeal stocks are plentiful, particularly in China, where oversupply is driving prices down.

As the world's largest producer of fishmeal and fish oil, Peru accounts for 25-33% of global production. Thanks to favorable weather, the anchovy quota for 2024 is large, at 2.4 million tons for the first fishing season and 2.51 million tons for the second.

As of October 2024, Peru has produced 670,000 tons of fishmeal, up 123% from the previous year, an increase that has increased global fishmeal supply by 24%.

Overall fish oil production remains low, however, at just 1.3 percent of the catch, totaling 98,000 tons through October, still lagging behind the second-largest producer, Chile.

In Chile, fish oil production fell by 25 percent and fishmeal production by 3.5 percent due to fishing bans, lower salmon catches, and high juvenile catch rates; in the Nordic region, production declined due to quota reductions; and in the U.S., a lack of herring catches led to a drop in production.

These challenges highlight the vulnerability of low-nutrient species, which are the main source of fishmeal and fish oil, to environmental damage, especially during El Niño events.

Scarcity of traditional raw materials and rising prices of marine ingredients have sparked interest in alternative sources such as algal oils and animal-free Omega-3s. While the market segments for these products are growing, large-scale adoption remains limited due to cost issues.

Peruvian fishmeal exports rose from 399,000 tons in the first half of 2023 to 591,000 tons in the same period this year, with China remaining the main export destination, accounting for 90 percent of total exports; fish oil exports increased slightly, from 26,000 tons in 2023 to 29,000 tons in 2024, with Chile emerging as the largest exporter, with a 200 percent increase in exports.

Chilean fishmeal exports grow by 5% to 142,000 tons, while fish oil exports decline by 15% to 45,000 tons due to low production and rising domestic demand, Norway, the largest buyer of fish oil, purchases by 4,000 tons and fishmeal by 5,000 tons, and Iceland replaces Denmark as the main supplier of fishmeal to Norway, although Denmark remains Norway's largest supplier of fish oil.

After a peak at the end of 2023, fishmeal prices declined from $1,750 per ton in December 2023 to $1,400 per ton in March 2024 and stabilized at that level. At the same time, prices for alternative feed proteins such as soybeans and wheat have fallen.

Fish oil prices are still high, although below previous peaks.