February 11, 2025 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries has declined to establish a new squid fishery, despite claims from some fishers that the species is abundant and marketable enough to justify a commercial fishery.
Submitted by Richard Yamada, the owner of a sportfishing lodge in Southeast Alaska and a commissioner on the International Pacific Halibut Commission, Proposal 230 would have created a directed jig fishery for magister armhook squid (Berryteuthis magister) in the waters of Southeast Alaska. According to Yamada, squid is an underutilized species living in Alaska waters that could be harvested to meet an emerging global demand for squid.