Ecuador and Peru fighting a losing battle with China on giant squid fishing in the southeast Pacific

Giant squid, squid or Dosidicus gigas, measures up to 3 meters in length and can reach 50 kilos in weight. It is one of the main species of the southeastern Pacific Ocean and at the same time it is one of the species with the greatest commercial pressure in the world. Thousands of tons are extracted every month, a large part, from the international waters located off the seas of Ecuador, Peru and Chile. The main player behind that voracious appetite is China: it has a declared fleet of 671 ships. The squid catch has increased over the last 20 years. In the last five years alone, between 800,000 tons and 1.16 million tons have been caught. This accelerated pressure on the species has alerted experts. And precisely this week an event in Ecuador is discussing measures to guarantee the sustainability of the species: the annual meeting of the Commission of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) Giant squid fishing on the high seas is regulated by the ...