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Jumbo squid swims north, imperilling Canadian fisheries

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 12, 2008 at 5:49 am

From Canada’s Globe and Mail:

When British Columbia’s hake fleet sets off to trawl the deep ocean off the West Coast later this month, crews will be on alert for a strange, voracious squid that is invading the north Pacific. The Humboldt, or jumbo, squid is usually found off the coast of Mexico, but there is a heightened alert on the B.C. fishing grounds this year because the species has been making its way up the coast of North America, devastating hake stocks as it goes.

“I don’t know much about them but they sound like quite a predator,” said Brian Mose, director of the Deep Sea Trawlers Association of B.C. Mr. Mose is sending a message to fleet members, asking them to report any encounters with the large squid, which has been expanding its range both north and south.

Last year, researchers reported that a breeding population had become established off the coast of central California, where it has been linked to a crash in hake stocks. Off the coast of Chile, where prior to 2002 it was seldom seen, the squid is now supporting a commercial harvest of about 200,000 tonnes annually.

Jim Cosgrove, recently retired manager of natural history at the Royal B.C. Museum, said there have been so many persistent reports of jumbo squid in northern waters that it’s time a research expedition was sent to determine how many there are and where they are roaming in Canadian waters.

The expansion of jumbo squid, he said, appears to be linked to warming ocean temperatures, and it could have good and bad side effects. On the positive end, if enough squid move into the northern Pacific, it could launch a lucrative commercial fishery, as it did in Chile. But at the same time, there are concerns about the impact it will have on hake, and possibly on stocks of wild salmon.

Read the full text of this story from Canada’s Globe and Mail by clicking here.

May 12, 2008 · Filed Under Weird & Wacky Water News

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