World Octopus Fisheries

Abstract

153 pages, 97 figures, 10 tables, 2 appendixes ; Recent studies have shown that coastal and shelf cephalopod populations have increased globally over the last six decades. Although cephalopod landings are dominated by the squid fishery, which represents nearly 80% of the worldwide cephalopod catches, octopuses and cuttlefishes represent ∼10% each. Total reported global production of octopuses over the past three decades indicates a relatively steady increase in catch, almost doubling from 179,042 t in 1980 to 355,239 t in 2014. Octopus fisheries are likely to continue to grow in importance and magnitude as many finfish stocks are either fully or over-exploited. More than twenty described octopus species are harvested from some 90 countries worldwide. The current review describes the major octopus fisheries around the globe, providing an overview of species targeted, ecological and biological features of exploited stocks, catches and the key aspects of management ; IGG has been supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (Grants J130000263 and AS2715164U). RV has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture (Grant PRX17/00090), Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (OCTOSET project, RTI2018-097908-B-I00, MCIU/AEI/FEDER, EU) and by the Direcció General de Pesca i Afers Marítims, Generalitat de Catalunya. FAFA was supported by a predoctoral fellowship of the MINECO (BES-2013-063551) and an Irish Research Council - Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship (Ref. GOIPD/2019/460) ; Peer reviewed