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Story: Fishing industry

‘Beaut squid’

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‘Beaut squid’

Many European New Zealanders have conservative tastes and have been reluctant to try unfamiliar species of seafood. Squid only developed as a fishery after Japanese vessels began to catch them in the 1970s. By the 2000s, squid was one of New Zealand’s top 20 exports, earning $174 million in export revenue in 2004.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: C-132-724

by Eric Heath

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Fishing industry – Deep-water fisheries, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/6306/beaut-squid (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 2 March 2009.