Illex, heads or tails?

With all eyes turned on Illex argentinus seasonal opening, any event involving this species becomes news. The first jiggers have landed in Puerto Deseado and, for the time being, the outlook is positive. But however, more than a few people prefer to keep cautious since last year beginning was promising but it suddenly ground to a halt.

On 18th January last, the Illex argentinus season began. Traditionally, the catch period for this species took place from 1st February to 31st August, but the start to this year has been moved forward in response to the entrepreneurial sector’s requests, justified by competent scientists to improve catches of squid close to the end of their life cycle.

The industry wants to leave 2016 behind since only 60,135 tonnes were landed as opposed to the 126,670 in 2015 and the 168,729 in 2014. The first weeks of this season have ended with promising results, but this enthusiasm is guarded since, as occurred last year, it might turn out simply to be a good start. Heads or tails?