An octopus fisherman with a catch. (Photo: Luis Eustaquio)

Sluggish start for Campeche octopus fishers

MEXICO
Wednesday, August 05, 2009, 02:10 (GMT + 9)

The coastal fishers of Campeche reported a low volume of captures and small sizes of octopus (Octopus maya) on the first day of the fishing season.

This past 1 August, vessels harvested between 15 and 60kg of octopus during the first day, with the sale price of each kilo fetching MXN 50 (USD 3.80).

Of a total of 1,592 coastal vessels, around 60 per cent joined the campaign. The rest preferred to wait for the first three days to pass when prices stabilise somewhat and they can recover provisional expenses, Notimex reports.

Nearly all the alijos - shallow-draft vessels without engine and with a crewmember capacity of one - remained on land awaiting the recognition carried out by vessels with outboard engines.

Meanwhile, the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishery and Foods (SAGARPA) reported the highest octopus capture in the municipality of Sabancuy, followed by Campeche, Champoton, Seybaplaya and Arena Island.

In terms of prices, the Fisheries subdelegate of SAGARPA, Alexander Isidro Medina, explained that the authority cannot regulate these, as they depend strictly on supply and demand.

Similarly, the first report on octopus catch and commercialisation statistics will be issued at the end of next week, when a fixed price for beach sales is established, he indicated.

Campeche and Yucatan fishers and executives hoped that a minimum of MXN 30 (USD 2.30) would be fetched, El Universal reports.

“Any less than this price would be a hard blow to fishers, since we would not recover the operational and provisional expenses of the vessels,” affirmed the president of the Common Fishers Front of the Bay of Champoton, Campeche, Jose del Carmen Vazquez Leon.

In other news, a team of Yucatan students from the Multidisciplinary Teaching and Research Unit of the College of Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have successfully bred the first-ever Octopus maya species in captivity.

The Mayan octopus, also known as the red octopus and the four-eyed octopus, is the only variety endemic to Mexico. It usually weighs between 500g and 4kg at its adult stage, which makes it a worthy fishing target.

The research project, led by Carlos Rosas Vazquez, consists of developing a system designed to scale production of around 50,000 specimens per month at UNAM facilities.

Related articles:

- First-ever octopus bred in captivity
- Solid octopus season anticipated

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com