Important California Baitfish Establishing In Alaskan Waters

NOAA Fisheries Alaska with an interesting about some wayward fish straying further north than it ever has in the past. Here’s more on the market squid:

Market squid, also called opalescents for their kaleidoscopic color-changing skin, inhabit nearshore waters along the Pacific coast of North America. They range from Baja California to Southeast Alaska, but are historically most abundant in the southern part of their range. 

This small species is both economically and ecologically valuable. It has been California’s largest fishery by both volume and value since the 1990s. It is also an important prey species for many fish, sea birds, and marine mammals.

Over the last two decades market squid have multiplied in warming waters off Oregon and Washington. This squid boom opened new opportunities for commercial fishing. The value of market squid landings in Oregon was $0 in 2015; by 2020, it rose to $6 million. As landings surged in the Pacific Northwest, they dropped in California.

The northward movement of market squid is part of a larger trend. Warming in the North Pacific has been accompanied by migration of many southern species, from plankton to predators, into subarctic and arctic waters.

Market squid populations are particularly sensitive to temperature fluctuations because of their one-year life cycle. 

“If environmental conditions are unsuitable for a year or two, long-lived species can often ride it out,” Eiler explained. “Market squid are dependent on continued spawning year after year, because of their short lifespan. They spawn and die.”