Peru jumbo flying squid - jig

Jumbo squid represents the second biggest fishery in Peru and the most important for artisanal fishers. Over 11 thousand fishers and more than 3 thousand fishing vessels are involved in the fishery, which lands each year around 500 thousand tons of squid. This is a highly selective fishery as all squid jigs are used to catch them one by one. A critical issue that the fishery needs to improve are national regulations related to the fisheries' formalization and given its highly migratory characteristics an international approach should also be sought. It is expected that with the collaboration of all the FIP Participants the fishery can move towards a more sustainable state.

Jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) is one of the largest (2.5 metres maximum length and 50 kg maximum weight) and the most abundant cephalopod species of the world. Three intraspecific groups have been identified for Giant or Jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Southeast Pacific, based on size-at-maturity (Nigmatullin et al. 2001), but as no genetic difference has been found between the three proposed sub-unit populations, thus it is still considered to constitute a single stock (Xu et al. 2017). Their abundance and distribution patterns are very sensitive to changes in the environmental conditions and the abundance of its preys. In Peru, the resource is almost exclusively exploited by artisanal fleet who must have a fishing permit to be able to operate in Peruvian waters. The fleet operates with jiggers, a special form of vertical lines mostly used in the fishery for squid. Special squid jiggers (Ripped hooks) are mounted one after the other in a certain distance with a monofilament line. The line weighed down by sinkers can be set up to 200 m depth and is hauled with jerky movements. (http://www.fao.org/fishery/geartype/231/en). The assessment, monitoring and management measures are not well defined and not provide accurate data to address sustainability issues.

The first 3-year audit for the Peru squid FIP was completed in June 2022. As a result of that audit, 10 MSC performance indicator scores were increased and the FIP workplan was revised to reflect updated actions and tasks that need to be taken for the fishery to meet the MSC standard. With these revised actions, the anticipated end date for the FIP was subsequently updated to December 2024.

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