Alaskan Fishermen Pull Up Slew of Squid

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2006/jul/22/072205247.html

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - They're pink, slippery and decidedly not cute, especially if you are a pollock fisherman in the Bering Sea pulling up a slew of unusable squid this summer.

The problem took on alarming proportions in early July when fishermen netted more than 500 tons of squid bycatch in a week, Josh Keaton, a resource management specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, said Friday. The amount was about four times what might be expected.

It's not known exactly why so many squid are showing up in the area this summer.

High rates of squid bycatch had occurred before, but alarms sounded because they were caught near the start of the mid-June through September pollock season.

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[MnFats]

1. of course, there is no problem with the environment...

...this is just a simple anomaly...nothing to see here...everything is FINE

[uppityperson]

3. normal variation is all

Breaking News!! Calamari stock prices plummet!

[Fridays Child]

2. A related thread?

Warmer Waters Disrupt Pacific Food Chain

[mitchtv]

4. not cute.....

but tasty. Too bad they are looking for something else

[papau]

5. Are there no Greek fisherman in the Bering Sea ? What a waste n/t

n/t

[skids]

6. You know at first read I thought "pollock"...

...was referring to the fishermen's nationality. :silly:

[papau]

9. A fish pun! :-)

:-)

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Earlier, there were huge numbers of squid washing up on the beaches ...

of WA state (IIRC). That species (Humboldt) had never been seen that far north before.


"Finally, we caught a total of 29 Humboldt squid, including one haul that captured 20 individuals. This large squid normally does not range north of Baja California Mexico, and until last year had never been found north of Newport, Oregon. In 2004, it appeared off Washington State, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska as far north as Sitka. The Humboldt squid that were caught in this cruise {Eastern Gulf of Alaska} are the most northerly specimens that have been collected."

{boldface added}

http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/Quarterly/jas2005/divrptsABL2.htm

[n2doc]

8. Squid are one of the opportunist species

They benefit when the large fish are taken by fishermen. Same goes for jellyfish-they appear in large numbers when the top predators are taken out. If you read the wording, "bycatch" refers to something that they aren't allowed to keep. So envision 500 tons of squid a week being caught, then tossed dead/half dead off the side of the ship. The waste is incredible.

[Nihil]

10. This has a rather unpleasant message doesn't it?

> So envision 500 tons of squid a week being caught, then tossed
> dead/half dead off the side of the ship. The waste is incredible.

Not only are these pillocks, sorry "pollock fishermen", mindlessly
killing off large amounts of squid, they appear to be oblivious to
the fact that they have already killed off sufficient numbers of other
fish that small squid have become the top predator ...