Overview
- An Environmental Justice Foundation dossier reports that Chinese-flagged vessels account for 98.7% of distant-water squid jigging in the Southeast Pacific and documents pervasive forced labour, withheld wages and documents, violence, and at least 41 crew deaths since 2013.
- Official OROP-PS data show sharp biological deterioration, with total squid catches in 2024 down 52% from 2023 and sustained declines in catch-per-unit effort as the number of Chinese vessels doubled between 2014 and 2024.
- Interviews cited by EJF describe shark finning and intentional capture of sea lions on Chinese jigging boats, practices that are not explicitly prohibited for high-seas squid fishing under current OROP-PS or Chinese rules.
- Peru reinstated satellite-tracking requirements in October 2024 after more than 350 Chinese vessels reportedly entered its waters without the devices, and many vessels have since routed landings through Chilean ports.
- A surge of supply has depressed prices, with markets receiving about 1.7 million tonnes of squid in 2025 versus roughly 1 million previously, hitting Peru’s artisanal sector in Piura, which led national landings with 480,000 tonnes, or 67% of output, last year.