After the 6-hour drive, ocean color remote sensing specialist Haley Synan and I pulled onto a narrow beach road in Cape May, New Jersey, in the early afternoon. We erupted in cheers as a bright orange hull appeared off in the distance. The F/V Dyrsten was hard to miss! It’s our trusted research platform where we conduct our shortfin squid oceanography research. Arriving at the boat felt like a reunion—the whole boat was brimming with excitement over what the next 3 days of squid fishing would hold.
Planning for Success
The goal of our study is to better understand how ocean conditions and processes influence the variability of shortfin squid catch in the Mid-Atlantic. With this being the second year of this 3-year research project, I felt a surge of confidence that it would be another success. We’re building upon the strong foundation and data collected in 2024. During our planning for 2025, the “Squid Squad”—an interdisciplinary team of federal and academic researchers, industry members, and managers—reviewed the latest sea surface temperatures and FishBOT data. While looking at the data, we noticed that the ocean wasn’t the same as last year. We didn't see the same cold water patterns that delayed squid migration into fishing areas. Conversations with fishing captains told us the migration of squid into the fishing grounds had recently begun.
With a new eMOLT system installed, the F/V Dyrsten was fully decked out with oceanographic sensors and we were ready to catch some squid.
From the Net to the Microscope
On June 11, we kicked off the first day near Washington Canyon off the coast of Virginia with a sunrise CTD cast to measure conductivity, temperature, and depth in the water column, and a plankton tow. Despite a year passing since the F/V Dyrsten crew—brothers Stefan and David Axelsson, cousin Leif Axelsson, and Matt Loughlin—last deployed oceanographic instruments, all operations ran smoothly. Once we completed the CTD and plankton tow, we started our first 1-hour squid fishing tow of the research trip.
As the time came for us to haul the net, everyone stood at the ready waiting for instructions from the crew. Before I knew it, water was rattling through the large pipes and grates as the squid were pumped from the net. Squid burst into sight as it was pumped onboard.
When the net was empty, I got word that we had caught 28,000 pounds of squid! This was more than we caught the entire research trip the previous year. David saved us 15 baskets of squid to subsample for our biological measurements.
We made quick work of sorting our subsample. First, we used an electronic measuring board to collect lengths for the species of fish we caught. Next, we collected lengths and weights for 100 squid. Most of the squid were between 80 and 120 grams each. We were itching to take a sneak peak at the squid under the microscope to see how reproductively mature they were. We dissected the squid to get a closer look at sexual maturity. Understanding sexual maturity—how many males and females and how close they are to spawning—helps learn more about when and where squid are reproducing. We even convinced David to get his hands a little extra squid-y. Sadly, despite the sneak peak, the rest of my dissections would have to wait until I returned to the lab.
Later in the day, scientist Jeff Pessutti got everyone in on collecting DNA samples and statoliths for a collaborator at the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute. Statoliths are hard calcareous stones located in a squid’s equilibrium organ used to determine age. One-by-one the science crew tried their hands at it. Both David and Matt donned the blue nitrile gloves, picked up scalpels and forceps, and extracted statoliths. Not only are they fishermen and oceanographers, but also statolith extractor experts!
Squidify Wrapped
As the third day concluded, we completed 15 stations—four more than last year—and caught 50,000 pounds of squid. Because we added the eMOLT system this year, we were able to collect more oceanographic data than last year.
I’m looking forward to dissecting and processing the squid we froze from this trip. I’ll measure mantle length and weight, assess sexual maturity, and collect statoliths. This data will be added to all the other field and lab data we’ve collected.
Little is known about this squid’s life history and the ocean conditions and processes affecting their movements and migration. Our data will help us better understand squid reproductive cycles and the oceanographic mechanisms that drive squid onto the shelf for the fishing season.
Time to start analyzing the data and count down the days until next year's research trip!
