China’s top port for squid landings has initiated a strategy to increase influence over pricing of the species and expand its share of the domestic market.
In 2020, the government-run China National Distant Water Squid Trading Centre in Zhoushan handled 388,300 metric tons (MT) of squid worth CNY 3.54 billion (USD 566 million, EUR 460 million) – increases of 64.3 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively, year-on-year. The center also handled 60,000 MT of tuna. Last year, it invested in the development of the “Ocean Cloud+” app, which has made the sales process more efficient and allowed it to trade higher volumes of squid. With incentives promotion, the center has signed up 231 companies, which collectively operate 380 squid vessels, to use the app.
Now, the China National Distant Water Squid Trading Centre is investing CNY 10 million (USD 1.6 million, USD 1.3 million) on an informatization project that will include a facial recognition system at the port adjacent to the trading center. And its staff have embarked on a national promotional tour across China that includes a reception and cooking demo for media, local officials, and seafood distributors, featuring “Atlantic squid from Peru” described as “quality, nutritious, and natural.”
China’s domestic market for squid appears to be growing faster than the country’s ability to source supply. Even as more stringent, coronavirus-related food safety inspections slowed imports, Zhoushan National Ocean Fishery Base officials told local media that its volumes unloaded from distant-water fishing vessels in January – mostly squid and tuna – increased by 24.4 percent over the same month last year.
China’s COVID-19-related food safety concerns are having an effect on the market, Spanish-based seafood trader Interatlantic wrote in a note to customers. The Spain-based seafood trading firm, which has offices in China, said the country is looking for “huge amounts of arrow squid from New Zealand, a strong market as well as being free of COVID-19,” Interatlantic wrote in a note to customers.
According to Interatlantic, New Zealand seafood suppliers have been positioning themselves globally in recent years to expand exports, aiming for larger sales of products including Patagonian squid, California squid, and Peruvian squid, offering competitive quality and prices. Now, they’re boasting of superior food safety as a result of New Zealand’s strict lockdown controls keeping the country nearly free of COVID-19 cases – appealing to growing consumer fears of coronavirus exposure through frozen seafood packaging.
Growing demand in China for squid could have a negative effect on squid sustainability efforts, Interatlantic warned. The company said a letter sent by unnamed companies to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) pointing to “a lack of sufficient control” in key processing and consumption countries, an apparent reference to China.
“Failure to take action in this regard puts the giant squid on the ropes, at an increasing risk of serious overfishing,” Interatlantic said.
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