16-02-2007, 12:50 PM
Quote:Slow beginning for Argentine squid season
Argentine short fin squid (Illex argentinus) catches within the Argentine EEZ since the start of the season on February 1 are rather erratic and not very encouraging. Until last week only eight jiggers were operating in the area reports Pesca & Puertos website.
Sector sources said that jigger catches some days ranged from 5 to 12 tons per night, although the Puente Valdez extracted 25 tons in a single night. Currently, catches seem to have stabilized at 8 to 10 tons, while last year at this time they averaged 50 tons.
In the first two months of last year, 42.202 tons of squid were landed, 6.2% above the same period in 2005, with 39.750 tons.
The dip in catches has jiggersâ owners in a bind since the low profitability of the fishery makes it difficult to meet fixed costs....
For full article see here: [url="http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id=9877&formato=HTML"]http://www.mercopress.com/vernoticia.do?id...mp;formato=HTML[/url]
For original source see here: [url="http://www.pescaypuertos.com.ar"]http://www.pescaypuertos.com.ar[/url] (Spanish)