Engraulis ringens is the most heavily targeted single fish species in the oceans. It is distributed along the coasts of Peru and Chile in the immensely productive Humboldt current system, a stream carrying cold water from the Antarctic and upwelling deep and nutrient-rich water to the surface. Here, E. ringens finds the preferred cold water and the preferred prey zooplankton. In years of El Nino and in summer, when warm water spreads, E. ringens migrates closer to the coast to stay in cold water layers. Because E. ringens lives in schools, fishing folks predominantly use purse seining to catch it, which imposes the risk of catching under-sized IND. In fact, the target size entails JUVENILES as well as ADULTS. What concerns bycatch of non-target species, E. ringens is the main prey for some penguins, dolphins, boobies, birds, sea lions, and seals among others. These species are in danger of being accidentally caught by the E. ringens fishery, especially by the wooden (32.6-110 m3 holding capacity) or steel industrial fleet (90-870 m3) which catches E. ringens for fish meal production. The wooden small- (<10 m3) and medium-scale fleet (10-32.6 m3) catches E. ringens for direct human consumption and seldomly causes bycatch of larger species than jellyfish. Besides the high density inside the purse seine during hauling and especially during crowding causing injuries and stress, E. ringens will be easy prey for adjacent predators. Transfer to the vessel mainly happens via pumps which avoids contact with air, but the arrival on deck or in the storage containers is most likely stressful and may lead to injuries. Further research is needed on welfare hazards and their consequences. E. ringens is brought to land without prior stunning or slaughter. A protocol for both, stunning and slaughter, is urgently needed.
