August 21, 2020 — The California squid fleet faced stiff tariffs, covid-crimped markets and a slow start to the season. Oceanic conditions, on the plus side, appear to have improved for the 2020 season.
“It’s been going OK,” says Diane Pleschner-Steele , executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, in Buellton. “I don’t think they’re setting the world on fire, but they’re catching.”
According to PacFIN, the 2020 harvest of squid for California, Oregon and Washington stood at around 42,000 short tons as of early July. Based on data from previous years, Pleschner-Steele adds that this year’s preliminary catch of 10,107 short tons for California (according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife as of June 26) and other oceanographic data suggests that the fishing grounds indeed felt the effects of El Niño conditions in 2018 and 2019.