Illex squid and jigger vessel fishing in Argentine waters. (Photo: Stock file)
Good start for squid season
ARGENTINA
Saturday, January 20, 2018, 01:30 (GMT + 9)
The Argentine squid (Illex argentinus) fishing season has started with good prospects and a moderate optimism of the sector.
During the first week, the jigger vessels obtained a daily average catch that oscillated between 28 and 35 tons, according to Pescare.
Although the level of catches is good, the shipowners consider that it is still too early to predict how this year's harvest will evolve.
They recalled that in the first weeks of last year the fishing started well, with daily average catches of 28 tonnes, and then it decreased. The season ended up being "short", but with a good price level.
Pescare reported that although there are still no definitions by the National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (INIDEP), the fleet could be operating on the summer spawning stock.
As for now, the extracted squids have a better size than those of the beginning of the previous season, with predominance of sizes S (copies between 150 and 200 grams), and double S.
If the conditions are maintained, jiggers could start to unload in Mar del Plata by the end of this month, and others a few days before in the Patagonian ports, which are closer to the fishing area.
Reports from the sector indicate that very little was fished outside the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Argentina in the first days of this year. The jiggers reported catches of around 2 tonnes, and trawlers, of about 6 tonnes.
The 2017 Argentine Illex squid season closed with a total catch of 98,965.5 tonnes, of which the national jiggers contributed 86,498.5 tonnes and the trawlers, 10,374.7 tonnes.
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