(Oslo, June 26, 2026) - For the second time since 2023, El Niño is stress-testing the global omega-3 supply. Peru opened its 2026 anchovy season with its lowest quota in a decade, and fishing has been repeatedly suspended as warming ocean temperatures, and a high presence of juvenile fish make responsible harvesting difficult. The result is an increase in prices, alongside a steep decline in available volumes.
This supply disruption comes at a time when the global need for omega-3 is expected to continue growing. Rising demand is meeting a supply base that is increasingly volatile and constrained, raising an important question for the omega-3 industry: how do we build a supply chain capable of meeting future needs without depleting the marine resources it relies on?
Two things are particularly important. The first is diversification, ensuring that the supply chain does not become vulnerable through reliance on a single source. The second is sustainable ocean management: building a system capable of absorbing disruption, adapting to changing conditions and recovering without undermining the resources on which future supply depends.
The FAO highlights effective and adaptive fisheries management as an important foundation for climate-resilient fisheries. Managing marine resources well is part of what keeps them productive over time, and it depends on two things: science-based management and broader ocean stewardship.
Managing marine resources responsibly
Marine sources must be backed by strong, science-based management, built to hold up over the long term as climate and ocean conditions change. This means precautionary catch limits, continuous monitoring, traceability and transparency across the supply chain.
The closures in Peru show why adaptive management is necessary: temporarily limiting harvesting to protect juvenile fish and reproductive capacity helps prevent a climate-driven disruption from becoming a longer-term deterioration of the resource.
Additionally, independent certifications, such as MSC, can provide further assurance that fisheries and their supply chains meet recognized environmental and traceability requirements. It can also create incentives for stronger management and greater transparency.
Supporting broader ecosystem stewardship
Protecting vulnerable marine areas and the ecosystems around them is also becoming an increasingly important part of supporting ecosystem health and long-term resource security. The long-term productivity of any fishery depends on habitats, biodiversity and ecological processes that extend beyond it. Therefore, broader ocean stewardship can help protect the systems that make continued production possible, supporting long-term resource security.
Aker BioMarine actively supports stronger ocean protection in Antarctica, including efforts to secure a marine protected area around the Antarctic Peninsula, which, if implemented, would cover an area of 455,957 km², representing approximately 70% of the region.
“Sourcing responsibly from the ocean matters, but so does keeping the whole system healthy enough to continue providing the nutrients on which we rely. For companies that depend on marine resources, long-term supply security begins with healthy ecosystems. Responsible harvesting, science-based management and stronger ocean protection must therefore go hand in hand” – Matts Johansen, CEO, Aker BioMarine.
Strong management and wider ocean stewardship can help preserve the ecological foundations on which marine resources depend. Resilience and sustainability come down to the same thing: protecting the ocean’s ability to continue supporting that supply chain in the future.