Our squid fleet has big problems this year and there will be a rippling effect through our economy and through our community.
The problem is El Niño, or at least that’s our best guess as to why the squid have not come in to spawn this year.
We’ve had good squid fishing for several years, and hopefully the fleet was able to sock away some money for tough times. That is very much the way our commercial (and recreational) fisheries work. There are good years, and there are bad.
We try to understand the vagaries of our fisheries, but if were I to ask people to raise their hands if they understand why squid haven’t come in to spawn this year, even the most experienced marine biologists wouldn’t.
Although those marine biologists know more than most about the sea and her critters, they know how much they do not know. El Niño for example, throws a monkey wrench into the works and changes the entire food chain.
Conditions may change and the tasty squid we fisherfolk call “candy bait” may show up, but as of now, there aren’t enough squid to go around.
Retail outlets who sell squid are having a difficult time finding enough to keep customers supplied, and we are at risk of running out entirely. Then our anglers will be without a primary bait.
People love squid, too, under its culinary name, calamari. The difference between food-grade calamari and bait-grade squid is just a matter of fine distinctions in handling and processing, which means if we are running out of one, we are running out of the other.
Commercial squidders provide our tourists and locals alike with something interesting to watch when they unload their catch.
They also provide our waterfront department with funds for the coffers and our local merchants with revenue (squidders have to shop like everyone else).
They provide a community service at another level out at sea, too. Fisherfolk get excited when we see the squid fleet at work because the fleet marks an area where squid are concentrated. Where squid concentrate, predator fish congregate.
It is feasible to drift or anchor near the fleet (without getting in their way) and jig up some live squid to use for bait. Sometimes we are able to trade or beg or buy a small amount of live or fresh dead squid from a squid seiner or a light boat.
After transacting with the squidders, we soak those baits for white seabass, halibut and yellowtail, or we fish lingcod, rockfish and others with the candy bait.
It may help to understand the squidding process. A light boat (equipped with powerful downward-mounted lights) attracts the squid during the night.
Then a seiner boat sets a net around the gathered squid, the light boat moves out, and the squid are hauled. It isn’t always nearly that simple, but that’s the concept in a nutshell.
Then there is the long slow trek back to harbor and things can go awry enroute, as is evidenced by the wreck of a squid boat, the Miss Julie, sitting in 65 feet of water about a half mile from Santa Barbara Harbor entrance.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
