Jack Cheney
Jack has sourced, sold, cooked, and sustainably certified seafood over the past 10 years. In addition to his contributions to Sustainable Fisheries UW, he is working to increase traceability into supply chains and educate consumers, chefs and retailers on the value of environmentally sustainable seafood. He earned a Master's in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington in 2015.
What is going on in the Falkland Islands squid fishery?
The Falkland Islands government canceled all fishing activities for Patagonian squid (Doryteuthis gahi), also called Loligo, for the rest of 2024. This marks the first such cancellation for this fishery, which surprised some stakeholders. A “routine” July pre-season survey showed the lowest pre-season biomass estimate on record. A second survey reported an average biomass estimate below the 10,000-ton minimum threshold, triggering the season’s cancellation.
Reports on this fishery closure cited overfishing and mismanagement as likely factors in the sudden drop in biomass. Science suggested early indicators were evident in August 2023, when fishing vessel activity was very localized, suggesting a shrunken squid population. The government initially paused fishing last summer but then decided to resume in January 2024 (the middle of summer in the Southern hemisphere), “which may have pushed the numbers too low,” according to a summary on Science’s Marine Biology page.
SeafoodSource interviewed Falkland Islands Fishing Companies Association Executive Secretary, James Bates, who said, “The early closure of the second season last year and the fact that this year’s second season never opened at all means that we are in uncharted and unprecedented times.”
Patagonian squid is a different species than shortfin squid (Illex argentinus). The latter has been central to controversial geopolitical disputes between the U.K. and Argentina. Shortfin squid are caught on the high seas, while Patagonian squid constitute a domestic fishery within the Falkland Islands’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Despite the clear differences, some reporting has incorrectly conflated the fishery management challenges of the two species.
To better understand the most important factors in this Patagonian squid fishery, we interviewed Andreas Winter, the Head of Fisheries Science for the Falkland Islands Fisheries Department. His prior role was Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, studying the Patagonian squid fishery for the past 15 years.
Can you summarize the survey process for the Patagonia Squid (Doryteuthis gahi) fishery in the Falkland Islands?
“We have two licensed Loligo squid seasons each year [summer and winter], two different cohorts, and accordingly, two different commercial seasons.”
“Right before the start of each commercial season, one of the vessels that will be in the commercial fishery conducts a 15-day survey with fishery department personnel on board covering the entire fishing zone to give us an estimate of the starting biomass of the stock that will be there for the commercial fishery that follows.”
“We surveyed as normal around mid-July and encountered a very low biomass. The lower 95% confidence limit of our estimate was below the 10,000-ton threshold that we consider the conservation limit. After some discussions within the fisheries department and with industry members, we decided it was not safe for conservation purposes to open this season.”
How unusual were these survey results?
“We do not have a preseason survey on record that was this low.”
What factors contributed to such a small biomass?
“Our hypothesis is environmental and oceanographic factors were the primary cause, particularly the Falkland Current, which sweeps up from the south and around the eastern shelf break. This year, the current was closer to shore than normal. We’re hypothesizing that it swept recruiting squid farther north. Vessels on the high seas north of the Falkland Islands recently reported higher Loligo squid catches.”
“Another possible factor we are investigating is hake. There has been a large increase in the abundance of hake around the Falkland Islands, which constitutes its own commercial fishing stock. But hake are quite omnivorous and will eat anything. We expect this is a contributing factor, but not as much as the Falkland Current.”
“It is important to understand that these squid only live one year. At any given point, the stock is basically a cohort. Each season, newly recruited squid emerge from the inshore spawning grounds and move offshore to the feeding grounds. At that point they are juveniles, but there are no older squid from the year before.”
“It is also worth mentioning that given that the summer and winter seasons fish different squid cohorts, what ‘may have pushed the numbers too low’ would, if overfishing were assumed, be not so much that the winter season was opened as scheduled but that the preceding summer season was not closed even earlier. This point wasn’t explained properly in some of the reporting.”
“Finally, the Science article mentioned that the winter season of 2023 was stopped early because vessels were fishing in a small area. But it was really stopped because of low estimated biomass. Fishing in small areas is not unusual for this species and would not by itself indicate low biomass.”
How unusual was the Falkland Current this year?
“This year the water has been cooler and the current stronger than usual. Looking back over 30 years, there have been other cool years and years with strong currents, but the combination of both at the same time appears to have produced somewhat of a ‘perfect storm’ to the detriment of Loligo recruitment in the fishing zone.”
To what extent was illegal fishing or overfishing a contributing factor to the low biomass?
“We’re not really worried about illegal fishing because this squid stock stays close to shore. There aren’t any vessels on the high seas or in the margins of our zone that could fish undetected. So, illegal fishing, no.”
“Overfishing, I would not say no in the absolute sense. If there had been a much higher biomass a year ago, I would expect more recruitment to be retained, even with this stronger current sweeping them north. However, last year’s biomass was relatively low. Overfishing is therefore a possible small factor, but the most serious factors are the environmental conditions I mentioned.”
What impact could the closure have on the Falkland Islands fishing industry going forward?
“The closure has a serious impact because this is one of our major commercial stocks. Several of the fishing companies that operate in our fishery have recently invested in new vessels, and new factory trawlers, which are quite costly and need to return on the investment over multiple years. It is a very serious matter for all concerned.”
When will we have another survey to better understand the trajectory of the Loligo biomass?
“The next licensed fishery for Loligo will be the upcoming summer season in February which has been quite good in recent years. That may not directly relate to the winter season and winter cohort, however. There is some overlap between the two, but mostly they are independent cohorts and fishing seasons. The next true measuring stick for the winter cohort biomass will be next July and August.”
Do you anticipate any fishery management changes for Loligo going forward, in response to this season’s low biomass?
“We will reevaluate the starting biomass threshold to see if it should be higher or lower going forward. We will also see to what extent Loligo are being caught incidentally in nearby finfish fisheries. That will be challenging because these squid are relatively small and pass quite easily through finfish nets, but we will investigate carefully nonetheless.”
“Whether this year will have been an exceptional occurrence or a trend of increasing impact of the Falkland Current going forward, is also something we need to monitor. We are now undertaking analyses to quantify how different this year was and develop suitable indicators for the Loligo stock going forward.”
“We will also see if the distribution zone for Loligo has shifted. If there is reason to believe so, we may reset the fishing zone allocated for this fishery.”
Jack Cheney
Jack has sourced, sold, cooked, and sustainably certified seafood over the past 10 years. In addition to his contributions to Sustainable Fisheries UW, he is working to increase traceability into supply chains and educate consumers, chefs and retailers on the value of environmentally sustainable seafood. He earned a Master's in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington in 2015.
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