8th September 2025
While in 2024, the first anchovy fishing season in Peru’s North-Centre region ended around June 19th, fishing activity this year continued into late July 2025. With Peru accounting for around 20% of global fishmeal and fish oil production in an average year, its fishing timeline has had an impact on production volumes and market trends globally.
By July 2025, according to IFFO’s market intelligence reports*, total cumulative fishmeal production had risen by approximately 8% compared to the same period in 2024. This increase was mainly driven by higher output in most regions, except for Northern Europe. Similarly, cumulative fish oil output through July 2025 showed a year-on-year increase by around 5%. Most countries recorded positive trends compared to January–July 2024, with the exception of Spain, the Iceland/North Atlantic and Peru.
“Global fishmeal and fish oil production is consistent with IFFO’s 2025 estimates at 5.6 million tons of fishmeal and 1.2-1.3 million tons of fish oil” Dr Enrico Bachis, IFFO’s Market Research Director, has commented.
* These data are based on statistics shared by IFFO members in Chile, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Ivory Coast, Mauritius, Norway, the UK, the USA, Peru, South Africa and Spain, accounting for 40% of global fishmeal production and 50% of fish oil output.
China’s peak season for aquafeed production and demand for marine ingredients
The fishing ban on South China Sea and the southern part of the East China Sea was lifted on August 15th. The ban in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea was ended on September 1st and will be soon followed by the lifting of the final ban in the main areas of the East China Sea on September 16th. The outlook for wild catches for the remainder of 2025 is still uncertain. IFFO’s analysts report a decline in domestic marine ingredient production in the first seven months of 2025 compared with the same period last year.
Farming activities have generally performed well in the recent months, despite recurring adverse weather conditions such as high temperatures and typhoons. The peak season for aquafeed production and demand for marine ingredients is still underway and is expected to continue until October. Fishmeal consumption in aquaculture so far is estimated to have exceeded last year’s level, supported by significantly improved profitability in certain farmed species. In the pig sector, however, declining piglet prices are behind weaker demand for piglet feed and fishmeal.