The Argentine squid fishing season has concluded, with a total output of 187,000 tons, lower than last year's level.
- Doris
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The 2026 Argentine squid fishing season has officially concluded, with a total output of approximately 187,000 tonnes. Although hitting the highest level in nearly two decades, the output is lower than that of last season.
According to statistics released by Argentina’s Fisheries Authority on May 7, the current fishing season closed on April 22, with cumulative landings reaching 186,992 tonnes, down from 203,956 tonnes in 2025.
The strong performance of this year’s season was mainly attributed to abundant and highly concentrated squid resources at the early stage. Particularly in January and February, the per-vessel catch rate of Argentine squid jiggers improved markedly. Fishing results remained relatively optimistic into March, with most of the annual catch completed in the first three months. However, squid resources declined sharply after entering April.
Following the opening of waters north of the 44°S latitude line, the catch rate of Argentine fleets failed to improve and instead showed a prominent downward trend, making it far more difficult to locate high-density squid stocks.
In terms of landing volume, Puerto Madryn ranks as Argentina’s largest unloading port with 81,486 tonnes of landings; Mar del Plata comes second at 50,929 tonnes, followed by Puerto Deseado in third place with 47,615 tonnes.
The mid-to-late stage of the fishing season was characterized by a notable drop in per-unit catch output, scattered fleet operations, and a rapid decline in the discovery rate of squid resources. Ultimately, Argentina’s National Institute for Fisheries Development decided to close the fishing season to protect the squid breeding cycle. The overall volatile performance of the season reflects the highly fluctuating nature of squid stocks.
Earlier this year, the industry anticipated that the 2026 output would surpass the 2025 figure. The year-on-year output growth rate once hit 100% in the first two months. Nevertheless, as the season progressed, the rate of resource depletion exceeded industry expectations. There were also significant resource disparities between waters north and south of the 44°S latitude line, becoming one of the key scientific topics within the industry. Argentine researchers will further conduct biological studies on the northern and southern squid stock populations, aiming to gain deeper insights into the causes of uneven resource distribution and rapid biomass decline in the Southwest Atlantic waters.
