Saving Seafood

Del Mar Seafoods expanding operations with new facility

July 15, 2025 — Watsonville, California, U.S.A.-based Del Mar Seafoods has expanded its operations with the lease of a new facility.

Founded in 1988, Del Mar Seafoods is a vertically integrated seafood producer and processor in California that produces and supplies over 30 million pounds of squid, anchovies, and other wild-caught species per year. The company was a part of collaboration to obtain Marine Stewardship Council certification for the California squid fishery, which was ultimately granted in 2023.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

China Dominates ‘Dark’ Network Behind Global Fishing Crisis

June 4, 2025 — A new report exposes the sophisticated networks propping up Chinese squid fleets accused of illegal fishing off South America.

These activities—often carried out with Automatic Identification System (AIS) trackers turned off, or “dark”—are undercutting local fishers who depend on regional marine resources for their livelihoods, according to Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit C4ADS.

Illegal, Unreported And Unregulated

The rising demand for seafood and dwindling local stocks have pushed fishing fleets farther from home. The vessels now operate in international waters for months—even years—at a time, virtually unmonitored, increasing the risk of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and labor abuses.

China and Taiwan account for about 60 percent of distant-water fishing, and Chinese vessels in particular have faced growing scrutiny for allegedly operating illegally within South American exclusive economic zones, prompting rising grassroots pressure to tighten enforcement and close regulatory loopholes.

What To Know

The abundant stocks of jumbo flying squid and Argentine shortfin squid have attracted distant-water fishing fleets to the coasts of South America.

A report released Tuesday by the C4Dfound that 69 percent of squid jiggers operating off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts share ownership with ships allegedly involved in illicit activities, or vessels of concern.

While these operations are theoretically under the oversight of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO), enforcement is often spotty. The situation is even more tenuous on the Atlantic coast, which lacks a comparable fisheries management framework.

Read the full article at Newsweek

How Chinese Fishing Vessels Dominate Domestic Waters Across the Globe

August 2, 2024 — On March 14, 2016, in the squid grounds off the coast of Patagonia, a rusty Chinese vessel named the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 10 was fishing illegally, several miles inside Argentine waters. Spotted by an Argentine coast-guard patrol and ordered over the radio to halt, the specially-designed squid-fishing ship, known as a “jigger,” fled the scene. The Argentinians gave chase and fired warning shots. The Lu Yan Yuan Yu 10 then tried to ram the coast-guard cutter, prompting it to open fire directly on the jigger, which soon sank.

Although the violent encounter at sea that day was unusual, the incursion into Argentine waters by a Chinese squid jigger was not. Owned by a state-run behemoth called the China National Fisheries Company, or CNFC, the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 10 was one of several hundred Chinese jiggers that makes annual visits to the high-seas portion of the fishing grounds that lie beyond Argentina’s territory; many of these jiggers then turn off their locational transponders and cross secretly into Argentine waters. Since 2010, the Argentine navy has chased at least 11 Chinese squid vessels out of Argentine waters for suspected illegal fishing, according to the government.

In 2017, a year after the illegal incursion and sinking of the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 10, Argentina’s Federal Fishing Council issued a little-noticed announcement: it was granting fishing licenses to two foreign vessels that would allow them to operate within Argentine waters. Both would sail under the Argentine flag through a local front company, but their true “beneficial” owner was the CNFC. (The CNFC did not respond to requests for comment.)

The move by local authorities may have been a contradiction, but it is an increasingly common one in Argentina—and elsewhere around the world. Over the past three decades, China has gained supremacy over global fishing by dominating the high seas with more than 6,000 distant-water ships, a fleet that is more than triple the size of the next largest national fleet. When it came to targeting other countries’ waters, Chinese fishing ships typically sat “on the outside,” parking in international waters along sea borders, then running incursions across the line into domestic waters. But in recent years, from South America to Africa to the far Pacific, China has increasingly taken a “softer” approach, gaining control from the inside by paying to “flag-in” their ships so they can fish in domestic waters. Subtler than simply entering foreign coastal areas to fish illegally, the tactic is less likely to result in political clashes, bad press, or sunken vessels.

Read the full story at TIME

Squid Fishing on the High Seas Has Exploded Since 2017

March 13, 2023 — Global squid fishing increased by 68% between 2017 and 2020, according to our international analysis, prompting concerns that much of the international fishing fleet is sidestepping necessary conservation and management.

Our study, carried out with colleagues in Australia, Japan, the United States, Chile and Canada, and published today in Science Advances, reveals that almost all of the increase in squid fishing has occurred in unregulated areas, with 86% of squid fishing now occurring in places with little or no scrutiny of catch sizes.

Unregulated fishing poses a significant challenge to fishery sustainability and raises substantial equity concerns. While attention has tended to focus on illegal fishing, the growth in legal but unregulated fishing may pose an even bigger threat, particularly to species such as squid, whose fisheries can cover entire oceans.

To estimate the scale of global squid fishing, we analysed satellite imagery and vessel tracking data to see how many vessels are fishing for squid, and where and how often they operate.

Squid fishing vessels are typically outfitted with powerful lamps to attract squid to the surface. These lamps are so powerful that they are visible from space. This means we can use satellite data to spot these lights at night, along with data from the ships’ Automatic Identification System (AIS), which allows authorities to monitor the location and course of registered vessels.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

New study zeros in on market squid increase off Oregon

January 31, 2022 — New research has found market squid populations increased fivefold off the Oregon and Washington state coasts in recent years, a population boom and an expansion north tied to several years of extremely warm ocean temperatures.

It is a glimpse of the possible future.

Mary Hunsicker, the co-author of the study and a research ecologist with NOAA Fisheries, said it is “what we might expect to see in Oregon waters with continued, long-term warming of ocean temperatures and more extreme warming events due to climate change.”

Hunsicker and her fellow researchers used survey data that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration collects every year from designated spots off the West Coast. The surveys are independent from fisheries and do not target squid, but squid kept showing up.

While researchers saw major increases in the squid population in the north, they did not see the same level of increase in California, the squid’s more traditional home. Market squid is a cornerstone of California’s commercial fishing industry, both in value and in pounds landed.

Read the full story at The Daily Astorian

Science group funds $126,000 for Atlantic fisheries studies

January 5, 2022 — Atlantic thread herring, squid, surf clams and ocean quahogs are the focus for $126,000 in funding approved by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries’ industry advisory board for 2022 research projects.

SCEMFIS is part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program. By connecting and marine scientists with members of the fishing industry, the center identifies scientific priorities for better understanding commercially important fish species, and directs industry funding to projects that study them.

“Since its founding, SCEMFIS has promoted research that has increased our understanding of these species, and improved their management,” according to the center’s announcement of its 2022 plan.

Topping the list with $69,336 in funding is a study using biostatistical and fishery-dependent sampling of Atlantic thread herring and Atlantic chub mackerel in the mid-Atlantic region, where a fishery for thread herring is developing in the Mid-Atlantic region as a result of climate change and the subsequent shifting of fish stocks.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Approves $126,000 in New Research for 2022

January 3, 2022 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) has funded $126,000 in new marine science research for 2022. The funds, approved by the members of the Center’s Industry Advisory Board at its annual fall meeting, will support new, much-needed research on prominent fisheries such as thread herring, ocean quahogs, squid, and surfclams.

Part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, SCEMFIS connects marine scientists with members of the fishing industry to identify scientific priorities for better understanding commercially important fish species, and directs industry funding to projects that study them. Since its founding, SCEMFIS has promoted research that has increased our understanding of these species, and improved their management.

The following research projects were approved by SCEMFIS for 2022:

  • Biostatistical and fishery-dependent sampling of Atlantic thread herring and Atlantic chub mackerel in the mid-Atlantic region – As a result of climate change and the subsequent migration of fish stocks, a fishery for Atlantic thread herring is developing in the Mid-Atlantic. As part of that development, fisheries managers need better biological data on the species in order to manage it sustainably. This project, led by Dr. Robert Leaf (University of Southern Mississippi), will conduct a sampling survey of thread herring to collect data on the fish being harvested by the fishery, including factors such as age, length, and weight. ($69,336 in funding)
  • Ocean quahog population dynamics: project completion – SCEMFIS researchers have worked extensively at expanding our understanding of ocean quahog, especially work in charting the age frequencies for quahogs in the Northwest Atlantic, as well as measuring the uncertainty that comes with estimating the age-at-length of quahogs. This project, led by Dr. Eric Powell (University of Southern Mississippi), and Dr. Roger Mann (Virginia Institute of Marine Science), will complete the Center’s ongoing work on ocean quahog, finishing and publishing current unpublished research on quahog age frequencies. ($41,210 in funding)
  • Genetic and age structure of Southern surfclams – The surfclam fishery has recently resumed fishing in the waters off the coast of Virginia in a region where high bottom water temperatures have led to the deaths of most Atlantic surfclams during much of the 2010s. Increased survival recently may be due to recruitment of the Southern surfclam. To better understand how and why surfclams have returned to this area, this project, led Dr. Daphne Munroe (Rutgers University), will conduct genetic testing on a sample of clams from the area. The tests will help determine their relationship with the rest of the coastwide Atlantic surfclam stock. ($10,795 in funding)
  • Squid age estimation using CAT Scan technology – A recurring challenge in managing squid is the lack of demographic data available to estimate the ages of the squid in the population. This project, led by Dr. Roger Mann, (Virginia Institute of Marine Science), will evaluate the use of CAT scan technology as a tool to age squid. The scans will be used to measure the size of squid statoliths, which are the hard structures in squid heads that grow over time, and attempt to age the squid based on these measurements. ($5,000 in funding).

About SCEMFIS
SCEMFIS utilizes academic and fisheries resources to address urgent scientific problems limiting sustainable fisheries. SCEMFIS develops methods, analytical and survey tools, datasets, and analytical approaches to improve sustainability of fisheries and reduce uncertainty in biomass estimates. SCEMFIS university partners, University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution), and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, are the academic sites. Collaborating scientists who provide specific expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal research, come from a wide range of academic institutions including Old Dominion University, Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, University of Maryland, and University of Rhode Island.

The need for the diverse services that SCEMFIS can provide to industry continues to grow, which has prompted a steady increase in the number of fishing industry partners. These services include immediate access to science expertise for stock assessment issues, rapid response to research priorities, and representation on stock assessment working groups. Targeted research leads to improvements in data collection, survey design, analytical tools, assessment models, and other needs to reduce uncertainty in stock status and improve reference point goals.

 

Texas Public Policy Foundation brings fishermen’s lawsuit against Vineyard Wind

December 22, 2021 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has so prioritized offshore wind energy development that it is bypassing real environmental review and failing to consider alternative sites that won’t harm the commercial fishing industry, charges a lawsuit brought by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Filed Dec. 15 in federal court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of six fishing businesses in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York, the action challenges BOEM and other federal agencies on their review of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project off southern New England.

The lead plaintiff, Seafreeze Shoreside Inc. of North Kingston, R.I., is a homeport and major processor for the Northeast squid fleet. Captains there are adamant they will not be able to fish if Vineyard Wind and other planned turbine arrays are erected in those waters.

Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison at Seafreeze and a vocal advocate for its fishermen, said she had heard mention of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in conversation, “kind of along the lines of Pacific Legal Foundation which litigated for the fishing industry on the Northeast marine monument” fishing restrictions recently reinstated by the Biden administration.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Maine’s shrimp fishery will stay closed, but regulators warm to idea of limited harvest

December 20, 2021 — Maine’s northern shrimp fishery has been closed for seven years and regulators decided Friday to continue the harvest moratorium for another three years with no signs of rebound.

But in a change, officials with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission entertained the idea of opening a small personal-use fishery at the suggestion of the Maine Department of Marine Resources and planned to look into it in the future.

A moratorium was enacted after the northern shrimp stock collapsed in 2013 and has been in place ever since. It is unclear what caused the shrimp’s downturn but recent research suggests that a species of squid that rode into the Gulf of Maine on a historic 2012 heatwave may have played a significant role.

Maine is the southernmost range of the shrimp and the gulf’s warming waters are also suspected to be part of the reason the cold-loving shrimp have struggled to bounce back, even with no commercial fishing for nearly a decade.

Read the full story at The Bangor Daily News

OREGON: State regulators rushing to catch up on market squid fishery

October 26, 2021 — If Joe Mulkey could fish for market squid year-round, he would.

The emerging Oregon fishery ticks a lot of boxes for the commercial fisherman from Reedsport: the use of seine gear and electronics, and, of course, the recent profitability.

In the past five years, the market squid fishery has moved from almost nonexistent to booming. Now boats that would normally fish for squid in California’s Monterey Bay have headed north and Oregon fishermen are seeing new opportunities in local waters, hunting the small, short-lived animals.

Last year, the fishery saw the highest participation yet in Oregon and fishermen landed more than 10 million pounds. Before fishing took off in 2016, fishermen had only landed 4.5 million pounds in Oregon since 1980.

But as market squid surges forward, state fishery managers are rushing to catch up.

Read the full story at The Astorian