MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina to open squid season South of parallel 44, January 2025

The chronogram points out that between parallels 49 and 52 South, the opening of the squid season starts at zero hour of 2 January 2025.

The Argentine Federal Fisheries Council decided to approve the opening of the next squid season south of parallel 44, beginning 10 January 2025. The decision responds to requests from two Argentine fishing organizations, CAPA and CEPA, with the purpose of optimizing catches and ensures the sustainability of the resource, with zone openings by stages and specific operational conditions of the fleet.

The decision, CFP 22/2024 from 14 November is based on the positive results of similar previous season plus technical reports from the National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development, INIDEP, arguing that catches in that zone maximizes the performance and sustainability of the resource.

The report goes on to say that in previous years explorations were done to identify significant volumes of the south Patagonia squid stock, between parallels 49 and 52 South, but these explorations did not satisfy, which justifies the need to adjust dates and zones to optimize catches and yields for all the jigger fleet.

The Fisheries Federal Commission following the analysis of the CAPA and CEPA, and in consensus with INIDEP’s reports then decided unanimously to authorize the anticipated opening of the squid capture season 2025, with a specific chronogram of áreas and operational conditions of the fleet.

The chronogram point out that between parallels 49 and 52 South, the opening of the squid season starts at zero hour of 2 January 2025.

South of parallel 44 South, exclusively for vessels, with an operational history: those vessels that have operated south of parallel 49 for at least three days in fishing activities could initiate the season at zero hour 7 January 2025.

South of parallel 44 South for the rest of the fleet, the opening in this area starts 12 January 2025.

Finally the Institutional Coordination Department has been instructed to formally notify this decision to the Authority responsible for the implementation, and to INIDEP, to coordinate the necessary actions for supervising and monitoring the fishing activity of the new season. Complying with these guidelines is essential to ensure a sustainable regulated exploitation of the squid resource in the south Atlantic zone.