Falklands calamari squid catches in the Falkland Islands have been good this season reports Director of Natural Resources John Barton, and this is particularly good news bearing in mind Illex catches have been “pretty mediocre,” so far.
The Loligo squid season took off this weekend in the Falkland Islands and the Galician partners of local companies are hopeful that they can repeat catches of the last season when some 46.000 tons were landed. The experimental sampling previous to the official launching points to stability, according to Javier Touza president of ARVI, the Vigo cooperative of vessel owners.
Despite a dismal last season for Illex fishing in the Falkland Islands, with very low catches, interest in licenses for the coming season is holding up and the process is likely to be oversubscribed, confirmed MLA Phyl Rendell last week.
The president of Argentina's Chamber of Jiggers Fishing Vessels Ship-owners, Juan Redini, gave some alarming figures on squid catches in the South Atlantic during a presentation at Monday's cephalopod conference held in Vigo, Spain sponsored by FAO and the Conxemar frozen seafood exhibition.
The Falkland Islands Natural Resources Department reported this week that high hake catches continue along with relatively low rock cod catches. Director of Natural Resources John Barton told the Fisheries Committee that hake currently represents the main finfish catch which is unusual.
Falkland Islands' Illex squid catches are still very sparse, now standing at 2,373 tons, “which is obviously very low and does not go far when spread across the 105 vessels in the fishery,” said Director of Natural Resources John Barton, interviewed by Penguin News.
Falkland Islands authorities have confirmed that Illex squid capture has been particularly low this fishing season, a situation that could lead the Islands government to reimburse part of the license fees paid to catch cephalopods.
Fishing for Illex squid in Falkland’s water took off on Sunday, as the 2016 fishing season opens. A total of 105 fishing licenses have been issued. The number of licenses issued has remained consistent for the past three seasons.