
Falkland Islands Director of National Resources, John Barton, reported that after a slow start, fishery catches were beginning to pick up: trawlers had started operating and there were only a few jiggers still to collect their licenses.

Spanish trawlers involved in the Loligo squid catching season in the Falkland Islands are hoping that this year the operation will evolve with “no incidents”, recalling that the previous season was abruptly stopped because of accidental deaths of sea mammals caught in nets.

Recent reports in trade journals that abundant catches during 2017 were depressing Falkland Islands loligo prices were challenged this week by local sources concerned with the fishing industry.

Falkland Islands Senior Fisheries Scientist Dr Alexander Arkhipkin explains the habits of fur seals and the efforts undertaken to reduce by-catch in the Loligo fishery. Stocks of Falkland calamari (Loligo) are very prolific this year.

The Falkland Islands second Loligo squid season has taken with very good catches, but good catches also means abundance of the cephalopodus, and... of those sea mammals that feed on them. Because of this a temporary exclusion zone around Beauchene Island was put in place on Thursday making this productive area for Loligo squid out of bounds to fishing vessels.

Manuela Mendez from the port of Corme, in Galicia, north-west Spain, is believed to be the first female officer in the Falklands' fishing fleet. The Second Mate arrived in Stanley harbor this week. After five years training in merchant shipping and a year on board another fishing vessel, Ms. Mendez joined the crew of Falkland’s trawler, New Polar, last year and is making her second trip to Falklands’ waters.

Concerns about tariffs on Falklands exports post Brexit, and political consequences were outlined by a Falklands' representative giving evidence to a House of Lords committee (the European Union Select Committee) last Tuesday.

Three decades ago, on 29 October 1986 a Proclamation declaring the Interim Falklands Conservation and Management Zone was signed by then Governor Jewkes, which helped to transform the Islands economy. The anniversary has been marked by several events, and this week was the turn for a scientific approach on how and why the waters around the Falklands are so rich in marine life.

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.

Early indications from scientific surveys are showing “no big concentrations of Illex,” in the Falkland Islands waters or on the high seas, “which is worrying,” said Falkland Islands Government Senior Fisheries Scientist Sasha Arkhipkin as reported by the Penguin News.