SOUTH AMERICAN FISH MEAL PRODUCTION AT RECORD HIGH
Production of fish meal by the three
South American producers -- Chile, Peru and Equador -- last
year reached 2.5 mln tonnes, equalling the record output of
1970, the International Association of Fish Meal Manufacturers
(IAFMM) said.
    However, IAFMM said in a statement that it expected Chilean
and Peruvian fish meal production in the first quarter of 1987
to be much lower than the 651,000 tonnes produced in the last
quarter of 1986, due to a ban on sardine fishing in Chile for
the month of February and to adverse fishing conditions in Peru
in the same month.
    The statement added that, due to technical market promotion
and energetic sales by Chile and Peru, the stock position at
the end of the year remained reasonable.
    Fish meal production outside South America decreased
slightly, falling from 114,400 to 111,100 tonnes.
    The IAFMM said fish meal consumption in 1986 rose in West
Germany, Scandinavian countries, Eastern Europe and the Far
East, but fell in the U.S. And remained static in the U.K.
    It added that fish meal consumption had suffered from
competition with feed grade tallow in the U.S. And with skimmed
milk powder in the U.K.
    IAFMM figures for fish oil production in the main producing
nations, in thousands of tonnes, were -
                    Oct/Dec            Jan/Dec
                 1986    1985       1986     1985
 CHILE             22       8        109       76
 PERU              56      28        238      104
 NORWAY            14      14         97      130
 ICELAND           44      52        102      118
 DENMARK           20      18         88       77
 U.S.              10       8        152      129
 JAPAN             67      91        213      249
 REUTER
