Commercial Market Squid Fishery Closes December 17

Based on landings information and projections, Department of Fish and Game (DFG) biologists expected that the season’s harvest limit of 118,000 short tons of market squid would be reached by Friday, December 17. The squid fishing season runs from April through the following March of each year, and the fishery closure will remain in effect through March 31, 2011. This is the first season the harvest limit has been attained since it was implemented by the Fish and Game Commission in 2004 as part of the California Market Squid Fishery Management Plan.

Squid fishermen and processors have assisted DFG in tracking daily catches this fall, as record squid abundance signaled the likelihood of reaching the harvest limit, established to ensure the squid fishery does not expand beyond levels experienced in the 1990s. “The wetfish industry and California Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA) are very pleased to partner with DFG to ensure a sustainable market squid resource and fishery,” says California Wetfish Producers Association Executive Director Diane Pleschner-Steele.

”The mission of the nonprofit CWPA is to facilitate collaborative research and management of our marine resources,” Pleschner-Steele explains.  “Our market squid research program predicted a good season this fall, but this has been truly amazing.”

Under the supervision of Dr. Doyle Hanan, retired DFG senior marine biologist supervisor formerly responsible for market squid and coastal pelagic fisheries, squid fishermen have learned how to tow scientific bongo nets to collect squid hatchlings, called paralarvae.  They time these field surveys to coincide with quarterly California Cooperative Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) oceanic research cruises.  Dr. Hanan has observed a correlation between increased paralarvae abundance and a productive fishery six- to nine months later.

(Learn more about CWPA’s market squid research program here.)

The presence of market squid is strongly correlated with environmental factors, such as water temperature and nutrient availability. In warm water years, such as during El Niño events, squid abundance drops sharply and landings decline. However, when water temperatures cool, even after severe warm water events, market squid numbers can rebound dramatically.

“Recent favorable environmental conditions generated the current surge in market squid abundance, says Dr. Hanan.  “The fact is there were plenty of adult squid and eggs produced to take advantage of these environmental conditions. This huge biomass has occurred while a squid fishery continued and a fishery management plan controlled fishing activities. From a fishery science and biological standpoint, this indicates that the management plan is indeed working.”

“We have had a banner year for market squid this year,” says Dale Sweetnam, DFG senior marine biologist who now oversees the commercial market squid fishery.  “In California, we have had squid landings from La Jolla to Half Moon Bay and reports that market squid are abundant off many of the offshore banks, the Channel Islands, as well as off Baja California.  The colder than normal water conditions we have observed since February have provided optimal conditions for squid spawning.”

According to the DFG News Release, market squid is by far California’s largest and most valuable commercial fishery. In 2009, just over 100,000 tons were landed with an ex-vessel value of $56.5 million. California market squid is used domestically for food – often identified as “calamari” in restaurants – and is an important international commodity. Last year, California fish businesses exported market squid to 36 countries with China the leading importer of California market squid.

The harvest limit is one of many provisions governing the squid fishery, which has been managed under the state’s Market Squid Fishery Management Plan (MSFMP) since 2005. The goals of the MSFMP are to ensure long-term conservation and sustainability of the market squid resource, reduce the potential for overfishing and provide a framework for management. In addition to the harvest limit, weekend closures were implemented to allow for periods of uninterrupted spawning each week.

The MSFMP was developed under the provisions set forth by California’s Marine Life Management Act (MLMA), which became law in 1999. The MLMA created state policies, goals and objectives to govern the conservation, sustainable use and restoration of California’s living marine resources.

(Read the entire DFG news release announcing the fishery closure here.)

State panel approves creation of protected marine area off Southern California coast

December 15, 2010

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — State wildlife regulators voted Wednesday to create a zone of protected areas off the Southern California coast where fishing and other activities will be restricted or banned.

The Fish and Game Commission listened to hours of public comment before approving the marine protected area along a 250-mile arc of coastline from the Mexican border to Santa Barbara County.

To comply with the state’s Marine Life Protection Act of 1999, California’s 1,100-mile coast was divided into five sections. Two protected areas were previously created in Northern and Central California. Southern California is the third area to undergo the process.

The establishment of such areas has been a particularly thorny issue in Southern California, where conservationists, fishermen and seaside business interests have collided.

The commission voted 3-2 in favor of the protected area. Supporters clapped when the vote was cast. Many had urged the panel to increase the size of the protected locations within the reserve.

The process appeared to have done little to quell opposition, even though the proposal has been in the works for two years and was aired at dozens of public hearings.

Fishing industry experts expressed concern about the survival of their industry. California Fisheries Coalition manager Vern Goehring and others predicted lawsuits.

“The public image or message that proponents are giving is this is a great thing protecting the ocean,” Goehring said. “But in reality, most people know if you regulate fishing — which is already regulated — it doesn’t do anything new about water quality, coastal development and other threats.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Sardine study assisted by local scientists, pilots, fishermen

Comprehensive count will help determine fishing season

By TODD GUILD, Watsonville Register-Pajaronian
Aug. 24, 2010

In an effort to give scientists and the fishing industry a comprehensive picture of sardine populations along the West Coast, two fishing boats from Moss Landing and one small plane from Watsonville are taking part in a large-scale study of the small fish that once powered the Monterey Bay’s economy.

Since July, a team of scientists has been plying the waters along the West Coast to study the sardine schools, a project intended to give researchers a better picture of the populations of sardines and allow the fisheries industry to better regulate sardine fishing seasons.

The sardine season, which is loosely scheduled from January through August but is largely determined by tonnage caught, has closed for the year, however. The West Coast sardine survey will include fishermen with special permits and spotter planes that will fly and photograph transects at 15-mile intervals from Cape Flattery in Washington to San Diego.

The study was launched when government reports of sharply-declining populations over the past three years contrasted with sardine harvesters’ reports of huge schools.

According to Dr. Doyle Hanan, a retired senior marine biologist from the California Department of Fish and Game who is heading up the California portion of the study, the sardine fishery is considered one of the more sustainable ones. Few other species are accidentally caught and the population of sardines is so high that there is little chance of overfishing, he said.

Still, the study, which is estimated to cost more than $5 million and is funded by the California Wetfish Producers Association and the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, is an important one that will give scientists and the sardine industry the most detailed picture to date of the populations extending from Canada to Southern California, Hanan said.

“We want to ensure that we know how many fish are out there, and that we’re harvesting them at a sustainable level,” Hanan said.

During the study, a fleet of small planes mounted with high-resolution cameras will fly over the ocean along the length of the West Coast and as far out as 76 miles to look for telltale signs of large schools of sardines.

Researchers will then estimate the total surface areas of the schools, then boats to take samples of the fish, which will be measured and weighed.

Allen Hewett of Aptos is the pilot helping with the Central Coast portion of the study. As he flies 4,000 feet above the water, he said he looks for signs of the sardines, such as huge flocks of birds and pods of whales feasting on the little fish.

“When you see 80 tons of sardines from the air, it’s something to see,” he said.

The two boats participating in the study have been given special permission to catch and sell the sardines, but profits from the sales will help fund the study, Hanan said.

Another team of boats and planes are helping with the Southern California study, while an additional team works the area north of the Oregon border.

“The scientific goal of our groundbreaking project is to photo-document and measure the schools of sardines extending the length of the Pacific coast, and ultimately to understand their migration patterns to ensure sustainability,” said Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of CWPA. “This aerial survey will dramatically increase our knowledge of the Pacific Coast sardine population and could also improve future fishing opportunities, which have suffered greatly in recent years.”

Results will be compiled and presented at a sardine stock assessment review panel in September and may be used to help determine the estimated abundance of the Pacific sardine resource and help fisheries management officials determine the 2011 harvest guideline.