Fish Meal Prices Drive Changes In Fish Feed Formulations

摘要

At the end of July, fish meal prices not only reached an all-time high of over 1600 dollar per metric ton, at least in Norway, but reached prices that are so far above expectations that they are mind-boggling. Just one year ago, prices were hovering in the 600-700 dollar range. What happened and what does this mean for the aquaculture industry? What happened? In a word, Peru is what happened. Peru is the world's largest producer of fish meal, sometimes accounting for over 30% of annual global production. This isn't one of those times. Peruvian fish meal is made from anchovies that are abundant in near-shore areas of Peru's coastline. They are abundant because of cool, nutrient-rich ocean currents that come from the Antarctic. However, every few years, a warm area develops in the Pacific Ocean and alters currents and water temperatures near Peru. This is called El-Nino. When this happens, fish become less abundant in areas accessible to fishing vessels and catches decline. This year, Peru is allowing only six million metric tons of anchovies to be landed, compared to 8.4 million tons in average years. So, instead of producing about two million metric tons of fish meal, Peru will produce about 1.4 million metric tons.