197
Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Loligo squid landings were good in 2017. At the end
of the first season of 2017 total catches amounted to 39,400 tonnes. The second
season in 2017 brought larger sized squid, which fetch higher prices. In China,
prices for Argentine Illex squid, Peruvian giant squid and Japanese flying squid rose
from an already high level, while Loligo prices marginally decreased (FAOGlobefish 2018b).
Fishery of Squids
Squid jigging accounts for nearly 40% of the world cephalopod catches followed by
trawling, which contributes 25% of the catch. Gillnets are also used for catching the
squids, which accounts for nearly 10% of the catch. Gears like shore seines, boat
seines, hooks and lines and spearing are the popular methods to catch cephalopods
(Pravin et al. 2013).
Modern squid fishing began to develop with the emergence of motor fishing
boats in the early twentieth century and the development of specific trawling and
jigging equipment. Only after World War II, with the development of the fishing
boats in the ocean, the cephalopods in general and the squid began to reach hundreds of thousands of tons per year and then millions of tons. Various types of fishing gear based on nets have been used for catching squids since the early days of
exploitation. These include the various trap nets, set nets, and purse seines that have
mainly been used in artisanal fisheries. The advent of motorized vessels in the early
twentieth century created opportunities for targeting large schools of pelagic and
near bottom squids as well as fish (Arkhipkin et al. 2015).
Jigging for squid is less damaging to the marine environment and produces a
more valuable product. This technology exploits the natural behaviour of the squid
which moves up in the water column toward the surface at night where they can then
be attracted using lights toward the fishing vessel and the jigs. Many large-scale
fisheries for both ommastrephid and loliginid squids employ jigging with lights.
This method results in a higher value product where the squid can be sold whole
because the process causes little or no damage to the skin (Arkhipkin et al. 2015).
The ommastrephid squid are almost exclusively caught using jigs armed with barbless hooks which are fished in series on lines using automatic machines. The squid
are attracted towards the jigs at night with incandescent, metal halide lamps suspended on cables above the deck of the vessel. The lamps mostly emit white light,
but small numbers of green lamps are often interspersed in the arrays. Some industrial vessels will also operate one or two underwater lamps which are raised through
the water column, and dimmed, as the squid are attracted towards the vessel. Jiggers
typically deploy a large parachute drogue to prevent drifting downwind while fishing, thus enabling the jig lines to operate close to the vertical (Rodhouse 2005).
Small inshore jiggers may use only a single lamp whilst >150 (2 kW) lamps may be
operated on a large industrial, distant-water vessel. Mostly white light is emitted,
but the arrays are often interspersed with small numbers of green lamps to create
3.2 Cephalopods
Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Loligo squid landings were good in 2017. At the end
of the first season of 2017 total catches amounted to 39,400 tonnes. The second
season in 2017 brought larger sized squid, which fetch higher prices. In China,
prices for Argentine Illex squid, Peruvian giant squid and Japanese flying squid rose
from an already high level, while Loligo prices marginally decreased (FAOGlobefish 2018b).
Fishery of Squids
Squid jigging accounts for nearly 40% of the world cephalopod catches followed by
trawling, which contributes 25% of the catch. Gillnets are also used for catching the
squids, which accounts for nearly 10% of the catch. Gears like shore seines, boat
seines, hooks and lines and spearing are the popular methods to catch cephalopods
(Pravin et al. 2013).
Modern squid fishing began to develop with the emergence of motor fishing
boats in the early twentieth century and the development of specific trawling and
jigging equipment. Only after World War II, with the development of the fishing
boats in the ocean, the cephalopods in general and the squid began to reach hundreds of thousands of tons per year and then millions of tons. Various types of fishing gear based on nets have been used for catching squids since the early days of
exploitation. These include the various trap nets, set nets, and purse seines that have
mainly been used in artisanal fisheries. The advent of motorized vessels in the early
twentieth century created opportunities for targeting large schools of pelagic and
near bottom squids as well as fish (Arkhipkin et al. 2015).
Jigging for squid is less damaging to the marine environment and produces a
more valuable product. This technology exploits the natural behaviour of the squid
which moves up in the water column toward the surface at night where they can then
be attracted using lights toward the fishing vessel and the jigs. Many large-scale
fisheries for both ommastrephid and loliginid squids employ jigging with lights.
This method results in a higher value product where the squid can be sold whole
because the process causes little or no damage to the skin (Arkhipkin et al. 2015).
The ommastrephid squid are almost exclusively caught using jigs armed with barbless hooks which are fished in series on lines using automatic machines. The squid
are attracted towards the jigs at night with incandescent, metal halide lamps suspended on cables above the deck of the vessel. The lamps mostly emit white light,
but small numbers of green lamps are often interspersed in the arrays. Some industrial vessels will also operate one or two underwater lamps which are raised through
the water column, and dimmed, as the squid are attracted towards the vessel. Jiggers
typically deploy a large parachute drogue to prevent drifting downwind while fishing, thus enabling the jig lines to operate close to the vertical (Rodhouse 2005).
Small inshore jiggers may use only a single lamp whilst >150 (2 kW) lamps may be
operated on a large industrial, distant-water vessel. Mostly white light is emitted,
but the arrays are often interspersed with small numbers of green lamps to create
3.2 Cephalopods