The Argentine squid (inline) production season started on January 10. According to industry feedback, the fishing output is not optimistic.
Juan Redini, president of the Argentine Squid Industry Association (CAPA), told UCN that there are currently 72 squid fishing boats operating 100 nautical miles from the coastline, distributed at 47 degrees south latitude. Generally speaking, the output is higher at the beginning of the production season, and the daily catch of each squid fishing boat is about 60 tons, but this year it is only 20-30 tons, and the small fishing boats have 15-20 tons.
According to data from Marine Traffic, China's ocean-going fleet is distributed in the sea near 47 degrees south latitude, with a number of about 200 ships. According to Redini, Chinese fishing boats produce less, only 3-5 tons per day, and this situation may continue.
The reason for this year's low production is unknown. "The water temperature is the same as normal. Maybe the squid populations migrated to other areas. We didn't find them. The season has just started, we will wait and see." Redini said.
For market expectations, Redini did not give a comment. "Buyers are still on the sidelines because we just started fishing and they hope the price will come down. 70% of Argentine squid (both in-line and off-line) end up in China. Last year most of the Argentine squid in China came from outside the FEA, Argentina doesn't export much, so China is running out of stocks."
From the perspective of the production season cycle, January and February are the peak period of production, and it begins to decline sharply in March and April, and the production season basically ends from May to July. In February last year, Argentina produced about 42,000 tons, March 33,000 tons, and the annual output was 167,000 tons.
One reason for this year's low production could be overfishing, Redini said. The Argentine government suggested that 20% be reserved for breeding, but fishermen are generally reluctant to accept it, because Argentine squid is also fished in international waters, and it is difficult to reach an agreement with many countries.
"We have been trying to reach an agreement with these countries, but it is too difficult to get China, South Korea, Taiwan, Spain to sit down and negotiate. We also have to deal with the Falkland Islands (Falkland Islands). This is also a problem. Argentina has never There has never been a successful negotiation," Redini said.