Small Town News

Big squid move in on salmon fishery

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PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) _ Large Humboldt squid have shown up in the Strait of Juan de Fuca where commercial fishermen saythey are stealing their catches. Now, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife is giving the fishermen some revenge by allowing them to sell squid they accidentally catch as they troll for salmon.

Until recently, the squid, which can grow to 6 feet long and weigh more than 100 pounds, were found in the Pacific from the southern tip of South America to the California coast. Researchers suspect warmer ocean temperatures are allowing the voracious squid to range as far north as British Columbia and Alaska.

Greg Bargmann, Fish and Wildlife marine ecosystem manager, said the state decided last week that commercial fishermen could sell squid they inadvertently catch.

"This has never been done before," he told the Peninsula Daily News. "Wehadtodigoutthe regulations. We didn't know if a provision existed."

It's good news to fisherman Gary Willmett of Neah Bay, who said he has between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of squid he acci-dentallv causht while fishing for salmon on his boat, White Eagle.

He said the big squid are a threat to fish stocks andhis livelihood, nabbing salmon right off his hooks while he trolls the strait that separates Washington from Canada's Vancouver Island.

In four days of fishing earlier this month, Willmett said he caught two king salmon, 42 silver salmon -- and 30 squid. Normally, he would have caught up to 100 salmon.

Kent Baltz, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanog-rapher, said a "strong hypothesis" forwhythesquid have moved north is that the ocean water is warmer than usual.

Because of an El Nino weather pattern, the ocean offWashington is between 1 and 2 degrees above normal, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jay Albrecht.

Although Humboldt squid showed up off the Washington coast briefly in the 1930s, they disappeared until 2004, when large numbers were reported seasonally here and in Alaska and British Columbia waters. This year, fishermen are reporting the largest numbers yet.

There are no official estimates ofhowmanysquid are here, but Willmett said there are too many to avoid.



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© 2009 Independent Coast Observer Gualala, California. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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