The fiction of "sustainable fisheries management" in the Malvina Islands has finally crumbled. After a forced two-week pause and a desperate attempt to resume operations on August 24, the British occupation administration was forced to order the complete and permanent closure of the Loligo squid ( Loligo gahi ) fishery until 2027. Scientific sampling revealed critical levels of marketable biomass, triggering an unprecedented crisis for the Galician-owned fishing industry and dealing a direct blow to the finances of the colonial enclave.

The Spanish press didn't mince words . The Faro de Vigo newspaper described the situation as "a disaster" given the disappearance of the resource, while El Atlántico warned of the impact the standstill is having on a business estimated at 300 million euros annually. Cornered by the biological evidence of three consecutive years of failed harvests, the colonial authorities are trying to justify the collapse by pointing the finger at Argentine conservation efforts and resorting to an unusual narrative: blaming the "predatory hake."

The fall of the 300 million loot

The early closure paralyzes a fleet of 16 large freezer trawlers belonging to joint ventures comprised of shipowners from Vigo and Marín (such as Pescapuerta, Chymar, Pereira, Lanzal, Copemar, Wofco, and Marfrío ) in partnership with local operators. The magnitude of the crisis exposes the extreme mutual dependence between Iberian companies and the usurping administration.

Three years of systematic exhaustion

The current closure is not an isolated event, but the culmination of a continuous process of depredation that the interim secretary of the Loligo Growers Group (LPG), John Barton, himself defined as a “back and forth of starting and closing”:

The unusual British alibi: Blaming Argentine hake

Faced with evidence of rampant overexploitation, the Director of Natural Resources for the established colony, James Wilson , offered a series of technical justifications to the media. After admitting that fishing pressure on the Loligo had increased excessively—with more powerful vessels, larger nets, and increased trawling hours—Wilson blamed supposed currents that “swept away the squid in 2024” and pointed to an increase in schools of “predatory hake.”

According to the colonial hypothesis reported by Mercopress , the massive presence of hake in the area would be a direct consequence of the closures and protective fishing bans implemented in waters under Argentine jurisdiction. As an emergency response, the British administration increased the allowance for incidental hake catches from 10% to 50% and is considering authorizing vessels to enter the area during the closed season (between fishing seasons) to "remove predators," a maneuver that Wilson himself admitted could generate serious and unpredictable ecosystemic consequences.

The unviability of the extractive model

The crisis surrounding the Malvina Islands confirms what Agenda Malvinas has been documenting: the British system of unilaterally granting fishing licenses is biologically unsustainable and lacks legitimacy. While Galician shipowners attempt to downplay the catastrophe by claiming that “the sea is cyclical” to maintain the value of their investments until 2047, the reality of the fishing grounds has jeopardized the main economic engine that finances the British military and civilian occupation of the South Atlantic.

Sources:

The Atlantic

Vigo Lighthouse

The Economist