The 2026 Argentine squid fishing season received good news. After being affected by an early storm, sea conditions improved rapidly. Squid fishing fleets successfully found a large number of squid groups in the sea area north of 49° south latitude. The single-vessel catch reached a new high in recent years, marking a breakthrough in both biological and commercial aspects for this fishing season
According to the latest monitoring, there are currently 72 squid fishing vessels in operation, and another 8 are on their way to the fishing ground. The fishing hotspots are concentrated in the "Camarones Hotspot" between 44°40 'and 45°53' south latitude and 62°30 'and 63°30' west longitude. This area is located about 110 nautical miles east of the port of Camarones in Chubut Province, close to the northern entrance of SAN Jorge Bay, and has once again become the core area of fishing this season. In contrast, foreign fleets operating outside Argentina's exclusive economic zone (commonly known as the "201 nautical mile line") have had limited harvests and are relatively small in size, highlighting the richness and competitive edge of the country's maritime resources.
From the evening of January 9th to the early morning of January 10th, the catch of the squid fishing fleet witnessed an explosive growth. The catch of most vessels exceeded 12 tons in a single night, and some were particularly outstanding - BP Lu Qing Yuan Yu 286 caught as much as 57 tons in a single day, and Hai Xiang 16, due to its strong processing capacity and sufficient crew allocation, The catch efficiency is even better. Industry representative Waldo Ahumada pointed out that currently, the monitoring focus is concentrated on crew safety and operation intensity. Due to abundant resources, the labor intensity on board ships has significantly increased.
What's even more exciting is the quality of the resources. Previously, the small size SS was the main type in the sampling. However, at present, the main size of the squid has been upgraded to S, with a wall thickness of 3.5 to 4.1 millimeters, which is suitable for industrial tube cutting and deep processing, and its export competitiveness has significantly increased. Industry experts say, "The appearance of high-quality squid at the beginning of the year is a key signal of a healthy population and also means that the international market price will be more advantageous."
The high yield of squid has even affected other fishery structures. Among the frozen trawlers used for catching cod, the by-catch of squid reached as high as 72 tons, while that of cod was only 25 tons, indicating that squid dominates in terms of economic benefits.
However, at the industry conference in Mar del Plata, enterprises still called on the government to pay attention to the issues of tax burden and export tariffs. Despite the encouraging fishing situation, the industry believes that to achieve long-term stable returns, further optimization in policy and cost control is still needed.
