Artisanal fishermen catching octopus. (Photo: Luis Eustaquio/Copyright: FIS)
MEXICOWednesday, March 18, 2015, 23:20 (GMT + 9)
The president of the Federation of Fisheries Cooperative of Centro-Poniente of Yucatan, José Luis Carrillo Galaz, announced that during the 2014 season 24,527 tonnes of octopus were caught, a volume that is significantly higher than that recorded the previous year (13,415 tonnes).
The fishing leader met with the head of the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (CONAPESCA), Mario Aguilar Sánchez, at the headquarters located in Mazatlan.
Carrillo Galaz thanked the Commissioner for the support received to achieve excellent productivity by coastal fishermen in the coastal region of Yucatan and Campeche.
The workers employed between 550 and 600 vessels having medium height and about 4,000 canoes.
And they obtained an income exceeding MXN 1,000 million (USD 64.8 million).
Thanks to these catches, these fishermen may face the eight-month ban, until the start of the next season, which runs between 1 August and 15 December, 2015.
"These excellent results are due to several factors: favorable climatic conditions that prevailed in recent months in the region of the Mexican Caribbean and also because the octopus one is a healthy fishery in which closures are respected as well as CONAPESCA regulation on issues such as the minimum catch size," ensured Carrillo Galaz.
He added: "a very selective fishing gear is used, but mainly due to the effort made by the 12,000 fishermen involved in this activity, who are increasingly better equipped and trained".
The 2014 season was excellent for catching the two varieties of octopus: maya and vulgaris, Conapesca reported in a statement.
It is a sustainable fishery that is conducted responsibly and that receives the support of first class infrastructure, ensuring the availability of shellfish for export to the European market.
Galaz Carrillo added: "out of the total regional production, 70 per cent currently goes to the European Community, which is very demanding in its sanitary requirements, but we are meeting their demands and placing our octopus in Spain, Italy and Japan, mainly, and the remaining 30 per cent is sold in the domestic market, where there is great demand for the quality of our product."
The 2013 Aquaculture and Fisheries Statistical Yearbook emphasizes that the octopus is produced in the first place in Yucatán (59.2 per cent of the national total).
And then in Campeche, Jalisco, Baja California Sur, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Baja California, Sonora and Veracruz, among others.
In 2013, there were 24,847 tonnes of octopus, concluded the authority.