Anchoveta has a wide geographical distribution in the South Eastern Pacific Ocean, from Zorritos (4°30’ S) in Northern Peru to Chiloé (42°30’ S) in Southern Chile (Serra et al., 1979). There are three different anchoveta (Engraulis ringens) stocks (Cahuin et al., 2015):
1. the Northern-Central Peruvian stock, managed by Peru;
2. the Southern Peru/ Northern Chile stock, managed by both Peru and Chile, and,
3. the Central-Southern Chile stock, managed by Chile.

This profile refers on the Northern-central Peruvian stock.

The stock expands in warmer years up to the Gulf of Guayaquil (3°00’ S), in Ecuador (Instituto Nacional de Pesca, 2009), where a purse seine fishery operates, but since 2012 anchoveta population has retracted.