ARTICLE IN PRESS

Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574

www.elsevier.com/locate/dsr2

Impact of El Niño events on pelagic fisheries

in Peruvian waters
Miguel Ñiquen, Marilú Bouchon
Department of Pelagic Research, Instituto del Mar del Perú, P.O. Box 22, Callao, Peru
Received 20 February 2003; accepted 3 May 2004

Abstract

Using data from stock assesment surveys on pelagic resources during El Niño events of 1972/73, 1982/83, 1997/98, we
analyze biological changes on pelagic ecosystems and pelagic fisheries during different stages of development of El Niño
phenomenon: emergence, full, final and post-Niño. Results indicate changes in spatial distribution of resources, their
concentration and size structure. In anchovy (Engraulis ringens) a decrease in biomass was observed, which was
estimated at 1.2 million tons in September 1998, the lowest throughout the 1990s. This resource showed an asymmetric
distribution towards the south of Peru. Other pelagic resources increased their biomass during or after Niño events,
primarily sardine (Sardinops sagax), jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi), pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus), and
longnose anchovy (Anchoa nasus). At the end of the El Niño phenomenon we found less productivity but more diversity
in the pelagic ecosystem. During the 1997/98 El Niño, the diversity index (Manual de Ecologia, 1a Edition, Editorial
Trillas, Mexico, 267pp) increased from 0.87 to 1.23–1.70.
In both the emergence stage and fully developed stages of El Niño we found large numbers of sardine and longnose
anchovy present simultaneously. Size structure of sardine, jack mackerel, and pacific mackerel showed an increase in
juveniles. Anchovy during El Niño showed a single modal group composed of adults, but the post-Niño phase indicated
an increase in juveniles with an average length of 6–7 cm. In El Niño conditions spawning among anchovy was low, but
among sardine and pacific mackerel it was high. We observed, for the first time during full spawning, juvenile sardines
with a total length of 18–20 cm. The anchovy spawning season during the post-Niño phase was considerably
lengthened, from April to December 1998. Drastic change occurred in fisheries when monospecific fisheries, based on
anchovy before El Niño, became multispecific fisheries based on sardine, jack mackerel, pacific mackerel, longnose
anchovy and other species typical of tropical and warm oceans. Landings of anchovy decreased substantially, but those
of longnose anchovy, jack mackerel, pacific mackerel, and sardine increased.
r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Ñiquen), The El Niño phenomenon generates substantial
[email protected] (M. Bouchon). changes in oceanographic and meteorological

0967-0645/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2004.03.001
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564 M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574

conditions in the Pacific Ocean, with manifesta- echosounder operating at 120 and 38 Khz to a
tions impacting the Peruvian coast (Zuta et al., depth of 250 m.
1976); this has mainly affected pelagic resources, Sea-surface temperature and salinity were taken
producing alterations in their biological processes, from land oceanographic stations every 10 min
behaviour, and gradual decrease in their popula- during the operations at sea and from coastal
tion levels (Valdivia, 1976). stations at Chicama and Chimbote, provided by
One of most sensitive species to these changes is the Oceanographic Forecasts and Marine Hydro-
anchovy, which in the 1960s reached biomass physical Department of IMARPE.
levels of 15–20 million tons, providing annual Biometrics and biological samplings of pelagic
landings that exceeded 10 million tons in 1970. species were made, and species composition of
From 1972, abundances diminished drastically due catch, biological aspects, size structure, individual
to a combination of high exploitation and weight, sex and sexual maturity were recorded.
anomalies caused by powerful 1972–73 El Niño The diversity was estimated using the Shannon–-
(Tsukayama, 1983). This situation worsened in Wiener Index (Franco, 1985) on the commercial
early 1980s, with the occurrence of another catch data.
exceptionally strong El Niño phenomenon in
1982–1983 (Csirke et al., 1994).
This paper describes the effects on pelagic 3. Results and discussion
resources of strong or exceptionally strong El
Niño events occurring during the periods 1972–73, The El Niño events reveal the following
1982–83 and 1997–98, predominantly translated changes, summarized in Fig. 1 and described
into biological alterations and vertical and latitu- below, in the environmental conditions and stocks
dinal changes in distribution and concentration. of the main pelagic resources between the pre-El
These effects are of particular interest because they Niño period and the end of the event.
are related to biological processes such as their
reproductive cycle and recruitment, as well as the 3.1. Environmental conditions
ecosystem approach to fishery management.
One characteristic of the El Niño events was a
very marked temperature change between Paita
and Chimbote (51–101S) caused by the intrusion of
2. Methods warm equatorial surface waters, producing ex-
treme thermal anomalies of up to 8 1C above the
The study area is the Peruvian coast between 031 average in the phase of maximum development.
300 –181 200 S and 721–841W, which is dominated by However, between Callao and Ilo (121–171S)
the Humboldt–Peru eastern boundary current variations were smaller, and anomalies reached+6
system, characterized by a complex system of to+2 1C (Zuta et al., 1984).
surface and sub- surface currents associated with Each El Niño had different features (Bjernes,
variations of coastal upwelling, and increases in 1966). The data, however, shows that in 1971, 1982
southern trade winds (Zuta and Guillen, 1970). and 1996, there was a period of cold weather prior
The main pelagic species are anchovy (Engraulis to the phenomenon, which lasted until the early
ringens), sardine (Sardinops sagax), jack mackerel months of the following year (Fig. 2).
(Trachurus murphyi), and pacific mackerel (Scom- The period of higher temperature observed in
ber japonicus) (Tsukayama, 1983). For species 1972 was quite protracted (Zuta et al., 1976), while
identification Chirichigno and Velez (1998) was in 1982–83 it was short and much more intense. By
used. contrast, the temperature rise of 1997–98 was both
Stock assessments of the main pelagic resources long in duration and strong in its intensity. In all
were made by hydroacoustic surveys of pelagic three cases, two development peaks were observed,
stocks, using a SIMRAD EK 500 and EK 400 with the second having a higher intensity (Fig. 2).
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M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574 565

CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Getting closer to the coast

CHANGES IN
C
Getting deeper
D
DISTRIBUTION
Migration to the South

CHANGES
C IN Young increasing of other pelagics
SIZE
SI STRUCTURE Dispersion of adults

CHANGES
C IN Lower intensity and Change in timing on anchovy
REPRODUCTION
R Increased activity and continuous on other pelagics

CHANGES IN Anchovy decrease

BIOMASS Increase in other pelagics

Fisheries monospecific
FISHERIES
CH
CHANGES
Fisheries multispecific

Fig. 1. Effects of El Niño events on pelagic resources.

10.0
Niño 72-73

5.0

0.0
Sep71 Nov Jan72 Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan73 Mar May Jul Sep Nov

-5.0

10.0
Niño 82-83
82-83
Anomalies (˚C)

5.0

0.0
Sep81 Nov Jan82 Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan83 Mar May Jul Sep Nov
-5.0

10.0
Niño 97-98

5.0

0.0
SeP96 Nov Jan97 Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan98 Mar May Jul Sep Nov
-5.0

Fig. 2. Sea-surface temperature anomalies observed at Chicama (071420 S–791260 W) before, during and after El Niño events.

3.2. Changes in Latitudinal and Vertical marine species (Chirinos de vildoso, 1976; Ñiquen
Distribution et al., 1999; Kameya, et al., 2001). Some of them,
originating from Panamanian waters, were ob-
Historical data analysis indicates displacement, served in the north-central region of the Peruvian
from north to south and west to east, of several coast during the 1997/98 El Niño event (Ñiquen
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566 M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574

et al., 1999; Bouchon et al., 2001). This displace- Peruvian waters, followed by longnose anchovy
ment can be viewed as the shift of a system with its (Anchoa nasus), strand machete (Opisthonema
integral species, as the thermal anomaly intensified libertate), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), and
(Fig. 3). This is how fish, such as tunas, billfishes, finally mictophidae (Diogenichthys laternatus).
pacific mackerel, and jack mackerel, appeared in The fish beard of corn (Bregmaceros bathymaster)
has been detected (a species of restricted distribu-
tion) usually found off Panama Gulf (Chirichigno
88°W 84°W 82°W 80°W 78°W 76°W 74°W 72°W and Velez, 1998), together with ayamarca (Ceten-
Bregmaceros
Tuna
LONG NOSE ANCHOVY GUAYAQUIL graulis mysticetus), mackerel scad (Decapterus
Skipjack tuna Pacific round herring APRIL 1997
4°S
Lamp fishes Slender thread herring
PACIFIC MACKEREL 4°S
afuerae), pacific cutlassfish (Trichiurus nitens),
BEGINING NIÑO
Bill fishes
Dolphin fishes
Shrimps
Euphilax Paita
and crabs (Euphilax sp). Meanwhile, resident
JACK SARDINE
6°S
MACKEREL
6°S Peruvian species like anchovy became patchier
South pacific hake

Gurn ards
Pimentel and asymmetrically distributed towards the south-
8°S
Chicama
8°S ern Peruvian coast, instead of being widely
ANCHOVY Chimbote
distributed over the whole Peruvian coast as was
10°S 10°S usually the case. Sardine shoals also were displaced
from the north-central to the south-central area.
12°S Callao
12°S Incidence of warm conditions in the north-
central region in the primary stages of El Nino
14°S
Pisco
14°S events determines anchovy movement, first to-
wards the coast, and mostly within 30 Km of
San Juan
16°S 16°S inshore waters. These movements result in high
concentrations, making this species very vulner-
18°S
Ilo
18°S able to fishing. Almost immediately, the highest
concentrations begin moving south of Chimbote
88°W 84°W 82°W 80°W 78°W 76°W 74°W 72°W
(091S) and deeper schools of anchovy also have
been detected in the north-central region, located
88°W 84°W 82°W 80°W 78°W 76°W 74°W 72°W
between depths of 20 and 80 m, when the El Niño
4°S
GUAYAQUIL
APRIL -MAY 1998
was fully developed. This behaviour resulted in a
4°S change in fishing strategy, with the largest catches
LATE NIÑO
6°S Paita made at night when fish moved closer to the
Shrimps
Euphilax
6°S surface.
8°S Pacific round herring Pimentel With regard to sardine, the largest concentra-
Slender thread herring
Tuna
Skipjack tuna Bregmaceros
Chicama
8°S tions began to move, from a normal distribution
10°S
Billfishes LONG NOSE ANCHOVY
Chimbote
off Paita (051S), towards Pimentel and Chicama
PACIFIC MACKEREL

JACK
SARDINE
10°S (071–081S), simultaneously approaching the coast.
12°S MACKEREL In the most notable case they reached Ilo (171S) in
Lamp fishes
South pacifichake Callao 12°S the south, with higher concentrations off Chim-
Gurnards
14°S bote (091S), close to the coast, as was the case
ANCHOVY Pisco
14°S during 1997–98 El Niño event (Fig. 4). A similar
16°S pattern was found during the El Niño event of
San Juan
16°S 1972–73 (Zuzunaga, 1985)
18°S These interannual migrations depend on the
Ilo
18°S magnitude of environmental changes. For exam-
ple, in summer 1998 (the highest peak of
88°W 84°W 82°W 80°W 78°W 76°W 74°W 72°W
1997–1998 El Niño), most of the anchovy biomass
Fig. 3. Species migration by the of El Niño 1997–98 event was detected south of 131S (Fig. 4) and the bulk of
along the Peruvian coast. the catches occurred between 161 and 181S. while
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M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574 567

Anchovy Sardine

APR IL 1 99 7 OCTOBER 1997 APRIL1998

50 40 30

40 APRIL1997 OCTOBER 1997 APRIL 1998

SARDINE 30 SARDINE SARDINE
20
30
20
20 10
10 10

0 0 0
Percent (%)

10 12 14 15 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
25 30 25
APRIL 1997 OCTOBER 1997 APRIL 1998
20 25 20
ANCHOVY ANCHOVY ANCHOVY
15 20
15
15
10 10
10
5 5
5
0 0 0
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Fig. 4. Changes in distribution and size structure of anchovy and sardine during April 1997–June 1998.

in summer 2000 (cold conditions), the catches were 80

SUMMER 1998
spread out over Peruvian coast, with the highest 60
Catch(%)

26.0
value off northern Peru (Fig. 5). 40 SST (˚C)
21.0
A complementary aspect of distribution and 20
availability of anchovy is shown by the observa- 0 16.0
tion of sea birds, which left islands in the north of 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1213 14 15 16 17 18
South Latitude
Peru in April 1997, migrating mainly to the central
SUMMER 2000
and southern areas (IMARPE, 1997). 26 26.0
SST (˚C)

24
Catch(%)

3.3. Changes in Size Structure 22 21.0

20
18 16.0
During the 1972–73, 1982–83 and 1997–98 El 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1213 14 15 16 17 18
Niño events, adult anchovy prevailed and young SouthLatitude
fish were generally few or absent (Figs. 4 and 6),
Anchovy catch SST
which impact recovery and population growth.
However, at the beginning of the post-Niño phase, Fig. 5. Latitudinal changes of anchovy catch relative to sea-
this behaviour varied notably with a strong surface temperature (SST).
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568 M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574

30
20 1972
10
0
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
30
20 1973
10
0
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
30
1982
20
10
Percent (%)

0
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
30
20 1983
10
0
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
30
20 APRIL 1997
10
0
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
40
30 JUNE 1998
20
10
0
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Longitud total (cm)
The red line indicates size at first maturity

Fig. 6. Anchovy Size structure during El Niño events.

increase in young and juvenile fish (IMARPE, sardine, longnose anchovy, pacific mackerel, and
1998), coming from spawnings starting at the end also hake (Merluccius gayi), lumptail searobin
of the El Niño event and disappearance of adults, (Prionotus stephanophrys) and Vinciguerria spp, all
which were probably concentrated near the coast of which were favoured by the strength of the
and therefore undetectable by echosounders and 1997/98 El Niño. This has been detected in
not catchable by purse seiners. different phases of El Niño, especially at the
Sardine changed from predominantly adults to middle of the event in September 1997 (Fig. 8).
mostly young fish during the 1997–98 El Niño This situation indicates a recovery in the stocks of
event (Fig. 4). In general, an increase in the the main pelagic species, because at the end of El
abundance of juvenile sardine has been observed Niño event, a new species composition is observed,
during El Niño events (Fig. 7), with mainly as a result of the entrance of other pelagic species,
individuals between 1 and 2 y of age, which were different to anchovy, which mainly have a juvenile
detected throughout the whole El Niño period. size structure, and whose development depends on
The presence of warm conditions has favoured this the environmental conditions. If the conditions are
stock increase. warm, the change will be long lasting, and if the
It is important to highlight the fact that large environment is cold, other pelagics will tend to
numbers of young fish were observed among disappear, originating a rapid return of anchovy.
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M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574 569

30 ”
SEPTEMBER 1973
20
10
0
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
30
1982
20
10
Percent (%)

0
5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31
50
40 APRIL 1997
30
20
10
0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
60
50 JUNE 1998
40
30
20
10
0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Longitud total (cm)

The red line indicates size at first maturity

Fig. 7. Size structure Sardine during ‘‘El Niño’’ events.

In case of longnose anchovy, fish beard of corn with lengths of 18–20 cm were observed, which
(Bregmaceros bathymaster) and sea-catfish (Ga- suggests that El Niño conditions favoured the
leichthys peruvianus), where adults prevail the reproduction of this species.
stocks grew during the whole 1997–98 El Niño This is probably related to better environmental
event, in which these adults had almost completed conditions for sardine, allowing these juveniles to
a full life cycle during 18 months of oceanographic develop their full reproductive potential. It is
anomalies. worth mentioning that the current range of sardine
sizes corresponds to that found in sardine off
3.4. Changes in the Reproductive Process California, where it is known that 50% is sexually
mature at a length of 19 cm. Macewicz (1996) and
During the 1997–98 El Niño, the anchovy Parrish et al. (1989) mention that California
reproductive cycle was disrupted and spawning sardine and Peru–Chile sardine probably have a
diminished in intensity (Perea et al., 1998), while common origin and constitute only one species.
the opposite happened to the pacific mackerel and This evidence of early spawning of sardine would
sardine: spawning increased in intensity at the indicate that sardines on the Peruvian coast during
beginning of El Niño, and during El Niño they El Niño years behave in a similar way to the
approximated the historical average (Fig. 9). Californian sardines, during normal years. It is
Furthermore, spawning juvenile sardine and pa- unknown if this evidence has temporary or
cific mackerel were detected during the final period permanent character in other years. It should be
of El Niño. Sexually mature sardines are pre- kept in mind that this was the first opportunity to
dominantly 26–27 cm in length, but at this time sample juvenile sizes in situ in the appropriate pre-
significant numbers of sexually mature sardines spawing or spawning season, which allowed for
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570 M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574

Before El Niño1997-98 During El Niño 1997-98

Anchovy Anchovy
Sardine Sardine
Jack Mackerel Jack Mackerel
Pacific Mackerel Pacific Mackerel
Longnose anchovy Longnose anchovy
Merluza hake Merluza hake
Lumptailsearobin Lumptailsearobin
Sea cat fish Sea cat fish
Vinciguerria Vinciguerria
Fish beard of corn Fish beard of corn
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100

After El Niño 1997-98

Anchovy
Sardine
Jack Mackerel
Pacific Mackerel
Longnose anchovy
Merluza hake
Lumptailsearobin
Sea cat fish
Vinciguerria
Fish beard of corn
0 20 40 60 80 100

% Young % Adults

Fig. 8. Proportion of young marine species before, during and after the El Niño 1997–98 event.

“EL NIÑO”1997 -98 ANCHOVY

Gonadosomatic Index (IG)

SARDINE

PACIFIC MACKEREL

LONGNOSE
ANCHOVY

Jan-97 Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan-98 Mar May Jul Sep Nov
Month

IG
I Historical IG average

Fig. 9. Gonadosomatic index (IG) of pelagic resources during El Niño 1997–98.

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M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574 571

14 10 8

Biom. Other Pelagic

Anchovy Biomass
1971-1973 Post-Niño
12 8

Millionstons

Millionstons
6
Millions Tons

10 6
4
8 4
6 2 2
ElNiño 97-98
4 0 0
E-97 M M J S N E-98 M M J S N
2
0 Anchovy Other Pelagic
1971 1972 1973
16 Fig. 11. Anchovy biomass and other pelagic during El Niño
1981-1983
14 1997–98.
Millions Tons

12
10
8 dominance was almost total, decreasing drastically
6
4
throughout the course of the event. At the end of
2 the event increases in stock as of sardine, jack
0 mackerel and mackerel were noticeable. With
1981 1982 1983 regard to the 1982–83 El Niño, other pelagic
16 April 1997 - April 1998
14 resources dominated the period before the event,
Millions Tons

12 and represented 95% of total biomass by the end

10
8 of it. The 1997–98 El Niño was an intermediate
6 case between the two previous ones, where
4
2 anchovy biomass was relatively important before
0 the event and decreased dramatically during its
April1997 October1997 April1998
Anchovy Sardine Jackmackerel Mackerel
development (Ñiquen and Gutierrez, 1998), while
the biomass of other pelagic species, which was
Fig. 10. Pelagic biomass before, during and after El Niño substantial before the event, increased or tended to
events. remain stable throughtout.
In three analyzed cases, a decrease in fish
productivity is general, mainly due to a decrease
the correction of a lack of samples in these sizes at in the biomass of anchovy. The 1982–83 El Niño
spawning time. Another interpretation of the event could be seen as an exception in that the
observed size distribution is a reduction in sardine total biomass increased during the last year, but
growth rate, influenced by poor feeding condi- this increase, in fact, was due to the increase in
tions, which would be reflected by the presence of jack mackerel (as a migratory resource) abundance
small, but older than expected sardines. (53% of the total).
The intensity and reproductive activity of other During the last El Niño event (1997–98) a
pelagic resources such as pacific mackerel and decrease in anchovy biomass was observed during
longnose anchovy were increased (Fig. 9). the mature phase of the phenomenon, which only
started to show weak signs of recovery at the end
3.5. Changes in Biomass of Pelagic Resources of 1998, while the biomass of other pelagic species
increased during the first half of the El Niño event
During an El Niño event, a remarkable decrease and decreased during the second half of it and
in anchovy biomass and increase in the biomass of during the post-Niño phase (Fig. 11).
other pelagic species has been observed (Figs. 10
and 11). However, the magnitude of impact 3.6. Changes in Pelagic Fisheries
depends on the intensity of El Niño events and
the species composition during the period before As a consequence of stock variations in the main
the development of the phenomenon. In 1971–73, pelagic resources, of three El Niño events ana-
at the beginning of the El Niño, anchovy lysed, the Peruvian anchovy fishery was seriously
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572 M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574

affected and was forced to diversify its catches, in other pelagic species remained relatively stable
towards other pelagic resources (Fig. 12) such as before large fluctuations increasing during the
sardine, jack mackerel, pacific mackerel and long- post-Niño period (Fig. 11). As a result, the
nose anchovy. It also took advantage of the proportion of the different species in the landing
availability of unusual species such as round varied considerably over this period, with an
sardine, ayamarca, strand machete, golden fish abrupt change in the first quarter of 1998, when
and others. the anchovy fishery was closed (Fig. 13).
From 1990 until the beginning of the 1997–98 El The relationship between SST of Chimbote
Niño events, we observed an increase in anchovy (091S) and Shannon–Wiener Index during January
catches due to good spawning and a trend towards 1997 and September 1998 (Fig. 14), showed a
cold conditions. This was observed in purse-seine direct relationship until April 1998. Then, while
landings, where anchovy was the principal com- SST decreased, Shanon–Wiener index remained
ponent during the summer of 1994 and the fall of high. In this case other factors have a bearing on
1997, making up 90% of total catch on the north the diversity index, elevated salinity being a likely
and central Peruvian coast (031300 –161S). In the
winter of 1997, a decrease in anchovy catch from
2.5
purse-seine fleets was observed, while the catches 29
2
Diversity Index (H')

27

SST (˚C)
1.5 25
2.0 500
Landing Other Pelagic

El Niño 97-98 Post - Niño 23

Anchovy Landings

1
Thousandstons

400
Millionstons

1.5 21
300
0.5
1.0 19
200
0.5 100 0 17
J97 M M J S N J98 M M J S
0.0 0
E-97 M M J S N E-98 M M J S N H' SST (˚C)
Anchovy Other Pelagic
Fig. 14. Relationship between Shannon–Wiener index (H0 ) and
Fig. 12. Anchov and other pelagic landings during El Niño sea-surface temperature (SST) off northern-central Peru, during
1997–98. the 1997–98 El Niño.

1.0

0.8
Proportion

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
S94 F W Sp S95 F W Sp S96 F W Sp S97 F W Sp S98 F W Sp
S = Summer
F = Fall Anchovy Sardine Jack& Pacific Mackerel Other species
W = Winter
Sp = Spring

Fig. 13. Changes in the seasonal species composition in purse-seiner landings off north-central Peru, 1994–1998.
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M. Ñiquen, M. Bouchon / Deep-Sea Research II 51 (2004) 563–574 573

principal factor (Moron et al., 1998). Nonetheless, 5. Changes in biomass structure of pelagic re-
one must keep in mind that this diversity index was sources: From anchovy dominance, to a pre-
computed from commercial fishery data and valence of other pelagic types such as sardine
therefore is likely to be underestimated and (except during the 1997–98 event), jack mack-
distorted by fishery strategies and fishery regula- erel, pacific mackerel, longnose anchovy, vinci-
tions such as the closure of the fishery for anchovy. guerria, lumptail searobin, pacific cutlassfishes
and mictophydae.
6. Changes in landings: From a monospecific
4. Conclusions fishery to a multispecı́fic fishery, with an
increased percentage of other pelagic resources
Observations carried out during El Nino events and a reduced percentage of anchovy.
reveal the following changes in the stocks of the
main pelagic resources (Fig. 1): Finally, impacts of El Niño events on pelagic
resources reflect a clear spatial tendency toward a
1. Environmental changes: During El Niño events, more southerly displacement and a temporal
very marked increases in sea-surface tempera- sequence in the changes of the biological processes
ture take place, especially between Paita and (reproduction, recruitment, abundance). Moreover,
Chimbote (51–101 S), with thermal anomalies of we can identify some response patterns of such
up to 8 1C above average during stages of changes, whose knowledge is very important for the
maximum development. improvement of pelagic fisheries management.
2. Changes in distribution: anchovies, instead of
being widely distributed over the whole Per- Acknowledgements
uvian continental shelf, became more coastal,
within 30 Km, more patchy, and asymmetrically We appreciate the kindness and collaboration of
distributed towards the southern Peruvian Dr. Pierre Freon and we are grateful with people
coast, instead of being widely distributed over of Pelagic Resource Department of IMARPE.
the whole Peruvian coast, while sardine shoals Special thanks to the anonymous reviewers of this
were displaced from north-central to south- paper because of their suggestions.
central area. Both species displayed a trend to
deepen to below 20 m.
3. Changes in size structure: Anchovy size References
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