Argentina's Federal Fisheries Council sets 2026 anchovy and chub mackerel catch limits based on INIDEP assessments

Argentina's Federal Fisheries Council (CFP) has adopted Resolution No. 15/2026, setting the maximum allowable catches (CMP) for two stocks of anchovy (Engraulis anchoita) and two stocks of chub mackerel (Scomber colias) for 2026. The resolution was unanimously approved on November 5, based on technical reports and communications submitted by the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP), with the assessments covering changes in the resources over the period from 1990 to 2025.

The northern anchovy stock is distributed north of 41°S. INIDEP Official Technical Report No. 30/2026 used an age-structured catch model, combining fishery activity records and abundance estimates from scientific surveys, to estimate the target and limit biological reference points and to simulate stock trajectories under different fishing mortality levels. The report's main conclusion is that the stock is in healthy condition, with moderate interannual fluctuations in biomass. The Institute accordingly recommended maintaining a precautionary exploitation standard and set a biologically acceptable catch (CBA) of 120,000 tonnes for 2026. The Federal Fisheries Council adopted this recommendation and set the maximum allowable catch for the northern stock at the same figure.

The southern anchovy stock is distributed south of 41°S. INIDEP Official Technical Report No. 32/2026 is likewise based on an age-structured population model, using data from 1990 to 2025. The results show that the fishing mortality rate on this resource is at a very low level and that spawning biomass is above both the target and limit biological reference points, indicating an under-exploited stock. In view of the species' ecological importance and the suitability of gradually developing its fishery, INIDEP recommended a biologically acceptable catch of 105,000 tonnes for 2026, and the Federal Fisheries Council set the maximum allowable catch at the same figure.

Regarding chub mackerel, the Federal Fisheries Council also considered recommendations for two stocks. The northern stock is distributed between 34°S and 39°S. INIDEP noted that exploitation remains concentrated in the coastal or estuarine fleet operating out of Mar del Plata, whose historical landings have consistently been below the current maximum allowable catch. The Institute explained that the fishery's output depends mainly on demand from the canning industry, and noted that scientific surveys conducted to date have not yielded abundance estimates sufficient to fit a population dynamics model. Given this information constraint, the Institute recommended a precautionary standard, maintaining a biologically acceptable catch of 14,200 tonnes for 2026, which the Federal Fisheries Council adopted.

The southern chub mackerel stock was assessed in Official Technical Report No. 31/2026, using an age-structured production model fitted with information from 1990 to 2025. On this basis, the researchers projected stock trajectories and analysed the risks associated with different exploitation levels. The assessment concluded that the resource is under-exploited and recommended a biologically acceptable catch of 38,000 tonnes for 2026.

Resolution No. 15/2026 sets the 2026 catch limits for the four stocks in line with INIDEP's scientific recommendations. Given that the 2026 calendar year covered by the approved limits is nearing its end, the Federal Fisheries Council also decided to request that INIDEP submit new precautionary maximum allowable catch recommendations for the anchovy and chub mackerel stocks as soon as possible, so that the corresponding catch limits are in place from the beginning of 2027, with the new scientific recommendations expected to be considered within the first months of next year.