"Squid"

Analysis of the benefits and costs of proposed alternatives regarding processing and sale of squids and sculpins.

Closure of the Directed Federal Illex Squid Fishery Illex squid landings limited to 10,000 lb per day Effective Date: August 31, 2020, through December 31, 2020

A local photographer observed an oceanic whitetip shark off the coast of Kona, Hawaii, with scars likely caused by the tentacles of a giant squid.

Historically, squids in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) region have been managed as a target stock complex with annual harvest specifications. In June 2017, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) took final action to amend the fishery management plans (FMPs) for the BSAI (Amendment 117) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA; Amendment 106) regions and move the squid stock complex into the Ecosystem Component category. The rationales for this decision included (1) the lack of a directed fishery for squids in the BSAI or GOA, (2) because squids are highly productive, there is little risk of overfishing in the absence of a directed fishery, and (3) current incidental fishing mortality is considered insignificant at a population level.

The National Standard Guidelines for Fishery Management Plans published by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) require that a stock assessment and fishery evaluation (SAFE) report be prepared and reviewed annually for each fishery management plan (FMP). The SAFE reports are intended to summarize the best available scientific information concerning the past, present, and possible future condition of the stocks and fisheries under federal management. The FMPs for the groundfish fisheries managed by the Council require that drafts of the SAFE reports be produced each year in time for the December North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meetings.

The Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report summarizes the best available scientific information concerning the past, present, and possible future condition of the stocks, marine ecosystems, and fisheries that are managed under Federal regulation. It provides information to the Councils for determining annual harvest levels from each stock, documenting significant trends or changes in the resource, marine ecosystems, and fishery over time, and assessing the relative success of existing state and Federal fishery management programs. For the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Area, the SAFE report is published in three sections: a “Stock Assessment” section, which comprises the bulk of this document, and “Economic Status of Groundfish Fisheries off Alaska” (i.e., the “Economic SAFE report”) and “Ecosystem Considerations” sections, which are bound separately.

Squids in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) are managed as a single stock complex comprising approximately 15 species. Harvest recommendations are based on an historical catch approach setting OFL equal to maximum historical catch during 1997 - 2007 and ABC equal to 0.75 * OFL. Gulf of Alaska squids are on a biennial stock assessment schedule, with full assessments due in odd years.

Squids are marine molluscs in the class Cephalopoda (Group Decapodiformes). They are streamlined animals with ten appendages (2 tentacles, 8 arms) extending from the head, and lateral fins extending from the rear of the mantle. Squids are active predators which swim by jet propulsion, reaching swimming speeds up to 40 km/hr, the fastest of any aquatic invertebrate. Squids also hold the record for largest size of any invertebrate (Barnes 1987).

Squids are marine molluscs in the class Cephalopoda (Group Decapodiformes). They are streamlined animals with ten appendages (2 tentacles, 8 arms) extending from the head, and lateral fins extending from the rear of the mantle. Squids are active predators which swim by jet propulsion, reaching swimming speeds up to 40 km/hr, the fastest of any aquatic invertebrate. Squids also hold the record for largest size of any invertebrate (Barnes 1987). The squid assemblage in the BSAI is better understood than in the GOA, so some of the information in this section comes from the BSAI.