S2 E2: Where in the World Does Squid Come From?

While you enjoy your plate of calamari, do you ever wonder where in the world it comes from? In this episode of The Town Dock's Squid Facts, Dr. Brianna Hughes talks about F.A.O. Fishing Zones and what that means for the source of your squid. Full transcript below the video. 

Hello and welcome to The Town Dock’s Squid Facts. I’m Dr. Brianna Hughes. Today, we're going to be answering a common question: where in the world the squid come from?

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, also called the FAO, produces a map of the globe with designated fishing areas. Each is a numbered zone, and every species of squid and other seafood are categorized into a major FAO fishing zone. So where does it come from? Well, it depends on the species.

For example, the Longfin Inshore Squid and Northern Shortfin Squid and our retail calamari, Rhode Island Calamari, and Premium Domestic Calamari lines, are from FAO Fishing Zone 21, which is the North Atlantic Ocean. The waters off the coast of Rhode Island are part of Zone 21.

The Japanese Flying Squid, one of the species in our Classic Calamari line, comes from FAO fishing zone 61 off the Pacific coast of Japan.

The Indian Squid, one of the species in our Fully Cleaned Imported Calamari line, is from FAO Fishing Zone 51 in the Indian Ocean.

And our Calamari Steaks are made from Jumbo Squid caught in FAO Fishing Zone 87, which is in the south east Pacific Ocean off the coast of South  America.

It's good to note that these are just the ocean areas for your squid. Once they are brought to shore, what we call landed, they will still have a country of origin. All of The Town Dock’s calamari products have their country of origin printed on the bag or box, and we have full traceability to the FAO Fishing Zone.

Thanks for joining us today to learn more about FAO fishing zones. Visit our website, www.towndock.com, and see past episodes of Squid Facts, download amazing calamari recipes, learn about our product lines and more.

See you next time!