Tag Archives: market squid
Oregon: Crab still tops state’s commercial fishing, but squid is gaining
Oregon’s crabbing industry is known as the state’s most lucrative in the fishing market, but another food from the sea is thriving off the coast: squid. In 2014, about 1,000 pounds of squid were caught by Oregon-based commercial fishers. Last year saw a huge jump, the haul was more than 10 million pounds. Josh Whaley, who has been fishing for squid since 2019,,, More market squid means more fishing opportunity and prompted Whaley to upgrade equipment to adjust to Seine fishing, a method of net fishing used to capture species close to the surface of the ocean, like sardines and squid. >click to read< 09:33
Oregon: State regulators rushing to catch up on market squid fishery
If Joe Mulkey could fish for market squid year-round, he would. The emerging Oregon fishery ticks a lot of boxes for the commercial fisherman from Reedsport: the use of seine gear and electronics, and, of course, the recent profitability. In the past five years, the market squid fishery has moved from almost nonexistent to booming. Now boats that would normally fish for squid in California’s Monterey Bay have headed north and Oregon fishermen are seeing new opportunities in local waters, hunting the small, short-lived animals. >click to read< 18:55
Squid are back in abundance in Monterey Bay
The squid fishery is among the most lucrative and productive in the state, frequently valued in the double-digit millions. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, landings from California market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) were over 34,000 short tons in the 2018-2019 season, generating more than $33 million in revenue. But according to Diane Pleschner-Steele, the executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, these charming and elusive animals can be difficult to pin down. The statement has proven true in the last couple of years. Spawning squid are targeted because they die shortly after they reproduce, and so fishing season — though technically open all year round — coincides with the spawning season. The catch is historically best in Southern California in fall and Central California in spring-summer. >click to read< 10:35
Monterey Bay fishermen working round the clock to pull in plentiful squid
In Monterey Harbor, a collection of at least eleven boats have been fishing for squid not far from shore since April 1, their lights visible off the coast at night. When the fishing is good, said Joe Russo, second captain and deckhand on the fishing vessel King Philip, it’s not uncommon for them to spend 24 hours a day netting tens of thousands of pounds of slippery squid with each return to shore. They continue through the spring, summer, and into early fall, if they don’t exceed the quota set by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. >click to read<08:47
Squid fishery proposed for Southeast as squid follow warmer waters to Alaska
Following warmer waters to Alaska, market squid may be here to stay and at least four Southeast fishermen think there’s enough here to begin catching and marketing them. A proposal to create a squid fishery in Southeast is slated for the Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting Jan. 11-23 in Sitka. If adopted, the board would work with fishermen and stakeholders to develop a purse seine fishery for market squid, which are already being caught in lucrative fisheries in California and Oregon. click here to read the story 12:40
Squid boats dot Malibu coast – Roughly 40,157 tons of squid landed this season
Almost every night this winter, bright lights have appeared off the coast of Malibu. It’s an eerie sight on a foggy evening, suggesting something unearthly or supernatural, but the only thing these ghostly lights portend is the presence of Doryteuthis opalescens, the common market squid. It’s a good omen for California’s seafood industry. Market squid is one of California’s largest commercial fisheries, and tons of frozen California calamari are shipped all over the world each year. However, the species had almost entirely disappeared from Southern California waters last year. The absence of squid is being blamed on El Niño. California Department of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist Laura Ryley studies squid. While concerns are being raised over the potential impact of prolonged ocean warming on the species, the return of more normal temperature conditions in the Pacific this winter appears to have signaled the return of the squid. Read the story here 09:22
El Niño pushes California calamari landings down
After several years of bounty, California’s commercial landings of market squid — the species better known to hungry diners as calamari — are down by about two-thirds compared to this time last year. The squid are responding to this year’s El Niño conditions, scientists say, but whether their numbers are declining or they’re simply eluding fishermen is unknown, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist Laura Ryley. Read the article here 15:03
Gary Griggs, Our Ocean Backyard: Calamari: Still No. 1 after all these years
Dungeness crab and calamari fishermen were happy campers this past year with full nets and pots typically coming back on board vessels. In recent years, these two have been at the top of the state’s commercial fisheries. Calamari, or market squid, has been fished in Monterey Bay for more than 150 years, originally by Chinese immigrants and later by Italians. Their short life span, their reproduction style, and the huge numbers of eggs laid by each female, has made this an historically sustainable fishery. Read the rest here 11:07
