Squid fishing has rapidly increased in parts of the ocean with no or little oversight, leaving squid populations vulnerable to overfishing and collapse.
Fishing activity on the high seas is notoriously difficult to track, with thousands of vessels moving across a patchwork of international and national jurisdictions as vast as the oceans. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very rare that you get a complete picture,鈥� says at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
To get a more complete view, Seto and her colleagues used satellites to track squid fishing vessels. Many squid vessels use bright lights to lure squid to the surface. The lights are visible to satellites.
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The researchers found the amount of squid fishing using lights increased by 68 per cent between 2017 and 2020, with a total of 801,000 observations made during that period. Most of those vessels didn鈥檛 broadcast automated tracking signals, but of the ones that did, more than 90 per cent were vessels from China.
The researchers also found 86 per cent of this fishing happened in unregulated areas of ocean, with the greatest increases in the north-west Indian Ocean and the south-east Pacific Ocean. These are waters outside of national jurisdictions and that are not managed by regional fisheries organisations, which can offer some oversight even on the high seas.
鈥淭his is an incredible amount of fishing happening without oversight,鈥� says Seto. She says the increase in squid fishing probably has to do with a combination of growing demand, lack of regulation and ecological factors.
at the Falkland Islands Fisheries Department says that without oversight, the fisheries can鈥檛 respond to large fluctuations of fishing stock, risking collapse in years of low abundance, with wider effects on ecosystems and livelihoods.
鈥淲e鈥檙e gambling with the collapse of squid populations,鈥� says at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Commission on Protected Areas.
An agreement on 4 March by most of the world鈥檚 countries to protect biodiversity on the high seas could provide a forum to discuss better oversight, but the new treaty can only offer recommendations, says Ortu帽o Crespo. 鈥淭he treaty is rather weak,鈥� he says.
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