(Caleta Végueta, Distrito de Végueta, Provincia de Huaura, Departamento de Lima)
Pesquera Hayduk is a fishing and fishmeal processing company established in 1986. The company, which is often called Hayduk, owns at least four fishmeal and fish oil processing plants in Malabrigo, Coishco, Vegueta and Tambo de Mora, according to a 2021 annual report.1 The company owns more than 30 fishing vessels tied to fishmeal, according to Peru’s Ministry of Production’s online vessel consultation service.2
Between 2020 and 2024, Pesquera Hayduk was the target of at least eight cases of civil unrest. In 2020, locals blocked the road leading to Tasa and Hayduk’s factories in Vegueta, Peru, and started a fire. They said that Vegueta had been Covid-free until non-local workers at the factories contracted the disease, according to a Facebook post by Amay en el Peru.3 In 2021, the labor union for Pesquera Hayduk’s Vegueta plant posted a photo on Facebook of more than 10 male workers in front of a brick wall, holding up signs that read, “no al cese colectivo,” or “no to collective dismissal,” and “alos companeros de paita,” or “to our partners in Paita.”4 In 2023, union workers marched down the dirt road in front of the plant carrying signs that read, “without struggle there is no victory.” The union workers said they were not allowed to enter their workplace, according to a Facebook post by El Ciudadano.5 A fine of over eight million dollars was imposed on Pesquera Hayduk in November 2023 for breaching environmental regulations related to wastewater treatment at its Vegueta plant.6 The fine was upheld in August 2024 after Pesquera Hayduk appealed the decision.
Three fishmeal plants operated by Pesquera Hayduk were certified under the MarinTrust Global Standard for Responsible Supply between 2015 and 2027.7 This program requires plants holding the certification to source fish that have been legally caught.8
These certifications seem in tension with the behavior of ships and plants that are part of Pesquera Hayduk’s supply chain. At least 14 ships owned or otherwise tied to Pesquera Hayduk reportedly engaged in a range of illegal fishing infractions between 2018 and 2025, according to an investigation by The Outlaw Ocean Project. Pesquera Hayduk’s fleet of ships were involved in at least 17 cases of illegal fishing, including exceeding catch limits, and invading marine protected areas. Additionally, between 2020 and 2024, Pesquera Hayduk was the target of at least seven cases of civil unrest.
In August 2024, Patricia Morales Franco, director of sanctions of the Peruvian Vice Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, dismissed administrative processes related to false reporting of juvenile anchovy captures against eight companies. One of the companies was Pesquera Hayduk. The other seven companies were Inversiones Pesqueras Liguria, Tecnológica de Alimentos, CFG Investment, Pesquera Diamante, Pesquera Saby, Pesquera Luciana, and Inversiones Moreda. These companies had underreported their catches of juvenile fish, which is a serious violation under Peru's General Fisheries Law.9
Hayduk, among other Peruvian fishing and fishmeal companies, has been faulted before in media reports for catching too many juvenile fish or misreporting how much they catch. In August 2024 a report on fishing companies fined by the Peruvian government for routinely failing to accurately report the true percentage of juvenile anchovies in each catch, the only legal requirement they face regarding catching juvenile anchovies, was published by Ojo Público.10 Pesquera Hayduk was one of 12 companies fined for declaring incorrect information in their sampling of juveniles on board. Additionally, between January 2020 and March 2025, at least eight vessels owned by Hayduk fished in marine protected areas, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. Each incursion lasted at least five hours and they happened more than 68 times. The protected areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve and Punta Atico. Fishing in Peru’s marine protected areas is generally illegal for industrial vessels and only allowed for small‑scale fishers under strict, area‑specific permits.11
On October 30, 2023, “more than 1,000 fishermen,” went on strike to demand that the Ministry of Produce “[reduce] the anchovy size that Imarpe considers a juvenile below 12 centimeters for the ongoing anchovy season,” Undercurrent News reported. Pesquera Hayduk was among the affected plants, and announced “that they had decided to halt operational activities on October 30.”12
The Sechura: In 2021, the ship was found to have unloaded catch at its Coischo plant that was fished with its “satellite tracking system in an inoperative state” in breach of Peruvian regulations. The company was fined over $140,000.13
The Unión I: On April 6, 2017 local fishers reported this ship to the Harbor Master for throwing a large quantity of dead fish into the sea of Talara as reported by Actualidad Ambiental, a news website for the Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental, a non-governmental environmental legal defense organization.14 The article includes Facebook video footage of the discarded fish. A March 2019 article details the subsequent sanctions imposed and the appeal efforts by Hayduk, which were ultimately unsuccessful according to Actualidad Ambiental.15 Ownership of the Unión I transferred from Pesquera Hayduk to the company Peru Frost in 2023, according to Peru’s Ministry of Production’s online vessel consultation service.16
The Bamar VII: Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.17
The Bamar VIII: On March 6, 2015, this vessel was sanctioned for extracting anchovy from an area that was closed as a precaution due to the presence of juvenile species, according to El Ferrol Chimbote.18 Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.19
The Isabelita: Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.20
The Yagoda B: Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.21
The Mariana B, Bamar IV, and Bamar I: These three Hayduk ships were involved in a case where government authorities found that between January and November of 2019, 18 fishing vessels had been given false certifications, blaming corrupt inspectors, according to Ojo Público. To receive these certifications, a ship must be physically inspected, but the investigation found that the ships in question were either at sea or not in the same port as the inspectors.22
The Bamar I: In February 2022, during an audit at the Santa Marina plant, the Bamar I was found to have extracted mackerel and horse mackerel after the conclusion of the fishing season. The company was fined and the illegal catch was confiscated in the final resolution of the Ministry of Production dated June 18, 2024. 23 Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.24
The Bamar II: Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.25
The Bamar IV: On August 16, 2016, this vessel was penalized for catching smaller-sized, juvenile mackerel at a level beyond established limits and was fined for the infraction, according to a Ministry of Production report from August 2019.26
The Ana Lucia: This ship was sanctioned on November 15, 2020 for illegally fishing in the Paracas Marine Protected Area.27 The incident, which incurred a fine, was documented in a May 31, 2024 Ministry of Production report.28
The Mariana B: This ship has also been the subject of at least six years worth of legal battles, culminating in the ship being seized by the government in September 2024. In 2018, the Mariana B was found to have caught juvenile horse mackerel beyond the legal limit – the maximum allowance for juvenile fish per catch is 30 percent, and the Mariana B’s catch was 54.10 percent juvenile fish. The ship was sanctioned as a result of these infractions. In 2022, the ship’s captain, Fredy William Castillo Gámez, was prosecuted for the crime of illegal extraction of aquatic species. He was sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment, suspended for a one-year probation period, and ordered to pay a 2,000 soles fine.29 On February 4, 2022, the Mariana B was found to have fished horse mackerel after the conclusion of the fishing season. By order of the Ministry of Production the illegal catch was confiscated and the company was fined.30
The Marylin II: This ship was sanctioned on two occasions in 2019 and 2020 for the extraction of juvenile mackerel at a level exceeding the amount allowed by established standards of the Ministry of Production. In the first case, cited on July 21, 2019, the company was fined and the illegal catch was confiscated and donated.31 In the second case, cited on October 3, 2020, the company was fined but the catch could not be confiscated as it was already processed.32 This same ship was also cited May 12, 2021 after inspectors detected a discrepancy of more than 30 percent in the reported average of juvenile anchovy specimens declared. The company was charged with supplying incorrect or false information and more than 150,000 tons of anchovy was seized.33 The Marylin II was also the subject vessel cited on November 15, 2020 for illegally fishing in the Paracas Marine Protected Area and for going too slowly inside a restricted area, a leading indicator of illegal fishing, resulting in a fine by final resolution of the Ministry of Production dated May 31, 2024.34
The Kiara B: This ship was cited on May 23, 2015 for the extraction of juvenile anchovy at a level exceeding the amount allowed by established standards of the Ministry of Production. In the final resolution dated March 15, 2019, the company was fined and the excess catch confiscated.35 Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.36
The Jadranka B: This ship was sanctioned on two occasions in 2017 and 2018 for the extraction of juvenile mackerel at a level exceeding the amount allowed by established standards of the Ministry of Production. In the first incident recorded on December 4, 2017, in addition to the infraction of exceeding the established percentage of juvenile mackerel, inspectors also detected excess amounts of anchovy bycatch. The final resolution by the Ministry of Production, dated June 23, 2021, sanctioned the company with a fine and confiscation of the excess catch.37 In the second incident recorded on February 8, 2018 sanctions were finalized on April 26, 2021 by the Ministry of Production in the form of a fine and confiscation of the illegal excess catch.38 Between January 2020 and March 2025, this ship spent five or more hours fishing in Peru in a marine protected area, according to satellite data analyzed by OceanMind and ProtectedSeas. The areas targeted included Nazca Ridge National Reserve.39
The Mi Fe En Cristo 4: On December 9, 2021, an inspection at Pesquera Hayduk's high-protein plant revealed that the Mi Fe En Cristo 4 fishing vessel, owned by Felipe Bernal Llontop (deceased), Hector Bernal Llontop, Maria Antonia Leyton Chaname, Lorenzo Nicolas Bernal Llontop, and Maria Lucila Palma de Bernal, unloaded 80.540 tons of anchovy, exceeding the authorized storage capacity by 4.22 percent, around 3.26 tons. As a result, 0.942 tons of anchovy were confiscated. The company Pesquera Hayduk paid the commercial value of the seized fish.40
Pesquera Hayduk did not respond to a request for comment.41