“ When the regional councils were formed , squid wasn ’ t a high priority for Rhode Island . We had more ground fish ,” says Jason McNamee , the state DEM ’ s chief of marine resources . “ Through climate change , the range of species are shifting and expanding and we are seeing the flaw in the regional council system . We are now the largest harvester of squid on the Atlantic coast and we don ’ t have much to say on the management of that species .”
The squid fishery is generally considered healthy . Distributed from Iceland to Florida , squid live short lives of eight to eighteen months . But they are prodigious reproducers . And when the squid move inland to spawn in warmer , shallower waters , each female can lay , on average , 20,000 eggs . The federal quota system for the longfin squid is split into trimesters , with the tightest catch limits in the second period from May to August . Annually , the cap is generous — nearly fifty million pounds — and is rarely reached . But the fleet does hit the seasonal caps .
“ We are trying to optimize the harvest without harming the long-term health of the fishery , and to make sure to have a sustainable amount of squid caught indefinitely ,” says Douglas W . Christel , fishery policy analyst at the National Marine Fisheries Service .
Commercial fisherman Chris Brown , captain of the F / V Proud Mary and president of the Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen ’ s Association , fishes 200 days a year , and he counts on nothing except his ability to recognize the opportunities nature presents .
“ There is no certainty . We fish for dollars ,” he says . “ Whatever represents the best economic return , we drift that way . Certainly it is our lifeblood and we are economically over-dependent on squid , but it may work out .”
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Editor ’ s note : Last year , the DEM launched a new feature on seafoodri . com to help consumers find fresh , locally caught seafood . According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , Northeast fisheries experienced a 34 percent reduction in overall landings revenue from January to July of 2020 due to pandemic-related restaurant closures and distribution disruptions . �
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RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l APRIL 2021 27