Korea's squid catch falls 93% as Peruvian imports double
South Korea's own squid fishery has shrunk to a fraction of its former size, and the shortfall is being filled from South America. Peruvian squid imports reached 47,000 tonnes in 2025, up 109.7% year on year, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's imported food statistics, as reported by Seoul Economic Daily. Ecuador, which had never shipped 100 tonnes in a year, sent 16,000 tonnes.
The domestic picture behind those imports is worse than the import totals suggest.
The Numbers
Korea's coastal and offshore catch of common squid fell from 189,160 tonnes in 2009 to 13,546 tonnes in 2024, a decline of 92.8%, on National Institute of Fisheries Science data.
The East Sea grounds fell 95.7% over the same period. The South Sea fell 91.4%.
2025 brought a rebound to roughly 31,000 tonnes, up 128.5% year on year, helped by cooler water that formed fishing grounds in the central East Sea in spring and the central and southern West Sea in summer.
Consumer price for frozen squid in Korea went from 6,985 won per kilogram in 2014 to 15,622 won in 2023, up 123.7%, per the Fisheries Economic Institute of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.
On the supply side, Peru's jumbo flying squid landings fell 67% year on year in January to August 2024. The 2025 catch then rose 252%, with exports up 210.6%, on government data.
Worth holding onto: the 2025 Korean rebound at 31,000 tonnes still sits 84% below the 2009 level.
What It Means for Buyers
Korea has become a structural importer of jumbo flying squid, not an opportunistic one. A market that bought under 100 tonnes a year from Ecuador now takes 16,000 tonnes, and that demand stacks on top of whatever Peru and Chile ship to China, Spain and Southeast Asia. If a programme is built on Peruvian tubes and fins, Korean buyers are now in the same queue for the same grades.
The price behaviour is the part that matters. Peru's catch rose 252% in 2025 and Korean import unit values for frozen Peruvian squid still finished January to September higher than a year earlier, according to an industry official quoted in the report. A recovery at origin is not the same thing as a cheaper offer.
Specification is where the Korean market differs from Western retail. Bodies and fins go into stir-fries, soups and fried dishes, while scored pinecone-cut product moves into Chinese-style restaurant chains and malatang. A supplier that can hold a consistent score pattern and count control has an advantage that price alone will not displace.
For buyers outside Korea, the read is to contract jumbo flying squid earlier than the last two cycles taught you to. Treat one strong Peruvian season as a supply event, not a trend.
What to Watch
Korea's next imported food statistics release, which will show whether the 2025 jump in Peruvian and Ecuadorian volume repeated this year.
Peru's second-season quota and landing pace, the swing factor behind every jumbo flying squid offer.
Whether Korea's domestic catch holds above 30,000 tonnes, or 2025 turns out to be a single cool-water year.
Korean retail frozen squid prices around 15,622 won per kilogram. A break higher pulls more imported tonnage into the domestic market.
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This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of AI and is published for general information only. It does not constitute trading, pricing, or investment advice, and readers should verify all figures against the original sources linked above before making commercial decisions. Content on this page is partly AI-generated. Easy Seafood makes no warranty as to its accuracy or completeness.
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