Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Fishing ban · Peru · 2022–2025

Peru counts 529,400 guano seabirds as it approves a seven-year-high anchovy quota

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 4 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Peru counted 529,400 guano seabirds in January 2025, down from about 4 million in 2022, and authorities approved a seven-year-high anchovy quota that year. At stake are the seabird colonies and the anchovy stock.

What?
Peru's guano seabird population fell from about 4 million in 2022 to 529,400 in January 2025, while authorities approved a larger anchovy quota. bdnews24 (Reuters)
Where?
Guano islands and coastal points on Peru's coast; 22 islands and 8 coastal points were counted bdnews24 (Reuters)
When?
Bird counts in 2022 and January 2025; quota approved in 2025 bdnews24 (Reuters)
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Guano seabirds — population counted at 529,400 in January 2025, against about 4 million in 2022 bdnews24 (Reuters)
Harmed
  • Peruvian anchovy stock — overfishing in 2024 cited as a cause of the seabird decline bdnews24 (Reuters)
Why?
Sources cite 2022 bird flu, the 2023 El Niño and 2024 anchovy overfishing as causes of the bird decline. bdnews24 (Reuters)
How?
AgroRural counted the birds; Peruvian authorities approved the anchovy quota. bdnews24 (Reuters)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

AgroRural, an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, counted 529,400 guano seabirds on 22 islands and 8 coastal points in January 2025, Reuters reported via bdnews24.

The count compares with about 4 million birds in 2022.

The same year authorities approved Peru's largest anchovy quota in seven years, and the report cites bird flu in 2022, El Niño in 2023 and anchovy overfishing in 2024 as causes of the decline.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the 1972 anchovy stock collapse from overfishing and El Niño, cited to Wikipedia.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Peru's guano exports of about 11 million tonnes between 1840 and 1880, and its 1875 debt default.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: anchovy catches took 85 per cent of the fish seabirds could eat, and the seabird count fell from over 20 million to about 5 million.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: that the state took over more than $200 million of anchovy company debt; no source is given for this.
    • None on record Not stated: who benefited from the 2025 quota.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

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