Yucatan, the leading producer of octopus in Mexico, with over 90 of its catch, begins exporting on October 2nd, through the Port of Progreso to the European Union. Through the Maersk Sealand shipping line, with the ship AURETTE A, will begin the export of the first shipment of 468 tons of Mayan Octopus in 18 containers for consumers of the italian market, in the destination port of Livorno.

To this date, the only state that exports octopus in Mexico to the European market is the Yucatan, one of the largest fishing resources of the Peninsula, and this activity supports over 19 thousand fishermen, which have a fleet of over 4 thousand small boats for attending to the fishing of this endemic species, a creature that only exists in the waters off the Yucatan Peninsula: the Red Mayan Octopus.

The economic rate for the area will be of 500 million pesos, which will benefit 19 thousand shore fishermen and commercial fishermen, as well as 70 fishing entrepeneurs, thus recuperating from the 2005 season where there were losses of 200 million pesos, due to the bad octopus fishing season.

Yucatan has a state of the art freezing complex, with excellent sanitary conditions, which promotes the sea species capture. The European Union is a very important consumer for the Yucatan, in 2005 this market consumed 3,500 ton of Yucatecan Octopus, according to the latest Sagarpa numbers.

The Mayan octopus is a unique species among the 150 known throughout the world, and is of medium size (between 60 cms and one meter long) and its capture is seasonal, from August 1st, to December 15th, with the purpose of preserving the species, and for 2006 the projected capture is between 11 and 13 thousand ton, and to date, 3 thousand tons have been captured.

The E.U. demands the traceability of the species, therefore, the waters are inspected and its contamination levels checked, for determining what the octopus are eating, and to insure that the capture of the species is done during the designated season and that the prohibition is not violated, to inspect all ships and plants in order to guarantee zero contamination risks in the handling of the mollusk and that the freezing systems are working properly so that the product will arrive as fresh as possible. From 2000 to 2004, the exports from the Yucatan to the European Union have grown 48from 2,133 tons to 3,139 tons, respectively, according to the National Fisheries Commission’s (Conapesca) numbers.

We also have an exchange with Japan, a market that does not require sanitation certificates as demanding as the Europeans and Americans, the octopus captured in the Yucatan is exported to Spain, Italy and Japan, where only in 2005 close to 3,500 tons were sent.

The Mayan Octopus from the Yucatan competes with the African Octopus, which is less expensive, but of inferior quality. The European Union applies a constant amount of sanitary inspections which the Yucatan has passed from the year 2000 to this date.

One of the characteristics of the Maya Octopus we can outline is that its tentacles have two suckers instead of one, and a couple of dark spots underneath its eyes, so the local population call them “four eyed octopus".

Its entrance into the European market has not been easy, but the exporters have managed to comply with all of the certifications required for both its ships and plants as deemed necessary by the European Union. In the Yucatan, we have 12 companies that are certified to export Mayan Octopus.