Their combined trend trajectory (Figure 4) is highly influenced by catches in area 87, the Southeast Pacific, where El Nino oceanographic conditions strongly influence the abundance of anchoveta. The overall trends in the two areas are opposite: In area 34 catches have grown to a peak of 4.8 million tonnes, and in area 47 they have progressively decreased from the overall maximum reached in 1978, although they have been recovering in the past three years. In contrast, total catch in area 87, even if analysed excluding anchoveta, has been decreasing dramatically since its peak in 1991.