Peruvian anchoveta

The Peruvian anchoveta (Engraulis ringens) is a species of fish of the anchovy family, Engraulidae. It has yielded greater catches than any other single wild fish species in the world, with annual harvests varying between 4.2 to 8.3 million tonnes in 2008-2012. Almost all of the production is used for the fishmeal industry.

Distribution and ecology

Anchoveta are pelagic fish found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, and are regularly caught off the coasts of Peru and Chile. They live for up to 3 years, reaching 20 cm. They first reproduce at about one year age and 10 cm length, whereas they are harvested as early as six months of age and 8 cm length. It was previously thought that anchoveta ate mostly phytoplankton, small zooplankton, and larvae. However, recent work has shown that anchoveta get most of their energy from larger zooplankton, including macrozooplankton (Espinoza & Bertrand 2008, Espinoza et al. 2009). Krill and large copepods are the most important dietary components.