Over 10,000 tons of octopus have been caught so far this season

The president of the Mexican Confederation of Fishing and Aquaculture Cooperatives, José Luis Carrillo Galáz, reported that from August 1st to October 5th, 10,700 tons of octopus were caught.

However, the capture of this species remains low for both the social and industrial sectors, with coastal fishermen being the most affected because the mollusk is found far from the shores.

He mentioned that since there is no octopus close to the coasts, coastal fishermen must venture further out to sea to catch some kilograms of the species. The capture of octopus continues to be very low, and there is no improvement in what remains of Yucatan’s main fishery.

It is worth noting that the National Fisheries Institute set a catch quota of 21,000 tons of octopus. The social and industrial sectors had estimated a catch of 25,000 tons from August 1st to December 15th, but due to the low catch of the resource, they might only reach around 20,000 tons.

Carrillo commented that in addition to the scarcity of octopus, the price per kilogram of octopus remains very low, at 90 pesos per kilogram at the beach and 100 pesos per kilogram at freezing plants. Furthermore, the product is not being exported to Europe and the United States; it is only sold in the national and local markets, which does not allow for an improvement in the beach price for the benefit of coastal fishermen.

Finally, Carrillo Galáz recalled that from August 1st to December 15th, 2022, 21,000 tons of octopus were caught. For 2023, the social and industrial sectors had estimated reaching 25,000 tons, but in two months and a week, only 10,700 tons have been caught, which is a very low figure considering the importance of the octopus fishery.

TYT Newsroom