China’s squid catch statistics

According to the FAO, the global squid catch in 2021 totaled 3,133,990 tonnes, of which 1,026,997 tonnes, or 32.8%, came from China.

In 2004, China and North Korea signed the first North Korea-China Fisheries Agreement, and as a result of that agreement, North Korea initially permitted 114 Chinese fishing boats to fish in North Korean waters. North Korea gradually increased this number, increasing the number to 1,299 in 2011, about tenfold, and then rapidly increasing to 2,161 in 2018, nearly 20 times the number in 2004.

And the aftereffects have had a direct impact on South Korea’s fishing industry, with a sharp decline in squid and crab catches in particular. China, which has been causing controversy not only in North Korean waters but also around the world for its sweeping fishing, has never once relinquished its top spot in squid catches since 2002, when it ranked first in the world.