Seafarers delighted with octopus catching season

Mérida, Yucatán.- Fishing entrepreneurs reported that so far there is a good octopus catch in Yucatán, which has been good economically for seamen.

The local president of the National Chamber of the Fishing and Aquaculture Industry (Canainpesca), Enrique Sánchez Sánchez, declared that the good weather conditions have made it possible to obtain a good quantity of this product, which faced a crisis until a few months ago due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Fishing started and is still going strong. We have already caught nine thousand tons up to last Monday. Eight thousand tons correspond to the Mayan octopus and one thousand to the bigeye octopus,” he explained.

The leader of the group pointed out that, contrary to what happened in 2020, this year a better octopus catching season is in sight, which could exceed 20 thousand tons.

He also informed that there is a significant demand for the product abroad, as well as at a national level, which generates that fishermen have a greater opportunity to have employment.

Likewise, he assured that it is expected to capture the greatest amount of octopus for the next weeks since it is expected that the weather conditions will make it more complicated to obtain the product in the next months.

“We are in the highest part of the hurricanes and we are waiting for the Nortes to start at the end of October or November. But in the meantime, fishing continues well. The boats are bringing in an average of 5 to 6 tons. There are some that bring 11, 12 tons”, he remarked.

It was reported that the good capture of octopus maintains a sale price above 120 pesos per kilo for fishermen, which guarantees that they can have a better income for their families.