Fishmeal supply plunged by 49% in first seven months of 2026
Fish oil availability was also down, by 30%, due to reduced supply from Peru and Chile
The volume of fishmeal produced globally during the first seven months of this year was 49% behind the same period in 2025, while fish oil output was down 30%, marine ingredients organisation IFFO said today.
Smaller forage fish volumes in Peru and Chile remained the biggest cause of the shortfall, with softer catches in the African countries and Northern Europe compounding the global decline.
Although the proportion of fishmeal and oil used in feed for salmon and other farmed fish has reduced in recent years, they remain an important part of the ingredient mix, and shortages push up production costs for fish farmers.
“The reduced fishmeal and fish oil supply from South America might be offset by some of the regions in Asia that have their peak fishing season in the last quarter of the year. China, India, and Oman are some of them,” said Enrico Bachis, market research director at IFFO.
China
China’s domestic production of fishmeal and fish oil resumed in August. Although the initial estimates indicate that domestic output through July 2026 was better than the levels seen a year ago, the availability of fish raw material since August remains to be observed, reported IFFO.
In China, August represents the peak of summer and a critical growth stage for aquaculture species. However, it is also a challenging period marked by heightened management difficulties and elevated production risks. Recent extreme weather events, including typhoons, have further disrupted coastal aquaculture operations. Although overall aquaculture feed demand has entered its seasonal peak, demand varies considerably across species.
For specialty species such as largemouth bass, snakehead, and yellow catfish, farm-gate prices remain weak. Market data shows that stocking volumes for these species declined year on year during the first half of 2026, suggesting that feed demand and fishmeal consumption may weaken during the grow-out stage. In contrast, feed and fishmeal demand for high-value species with stronger profit margins remains stable or is showing signs of improvement. Nevertheless, persistently high farming costs with less supply have contributed to an overall year-on-year decline in fishmeal consumption.
In China’s pig sector, fishmeal consumption also remains subdued, primarily due to weaker demand for piglet and commercial piglet feed.
