The Inca tern (Larosterna inca) is one of South America's most distinctive seabirds, nesting on rocky cliffs and islands along the Peruvian and Chilean coasts. Its welfare is intimately linked to anchovy availability — affected by both commercial fishing and El Nino events.
Inca tern chicks starving during El Nino events or anchovy fishing pressure experience progressive weight loss, weakness, and death. Adults undertaking extended foraging trips during food scarcity cannot return to warm and feed chicks in time, causing thermal stress and predation vulnerability in unattended colonies. Commercial fishing vessels competing for anchovy in the same coastal zone as foraging Inca terns deplete prey patches. SERNANP (Peru's National Park Service) manages marine reserves around key Inca tern colonies, but anchovy fishing pressure outside reserves significantly affects welfare during El Nino years when spatial compression intensifies competition.