European squid

There is limited information about the stock size of European squid in the Celtic Seas, but there has been a general decline in squid in this area, so there could be concern for stock biomass. Landings have shown a boom and bust pattern, which could indicate overexploitation, so fishing pressure is also of concern.Route 2 scoring has been applied to this rating owing to the lack of reference points for fishing pressure and biomass. European squid has low vulnerability (19 out of 100).There are no stock assessments for squid species in UK seas. Two species of long-finned squids - European and veined - are caught together. This makes it difficult to infer species-specific trends. European squid is one of the most common squids in the coastal waters of the Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In the Northeast Atlantic, it is probably the main component of long-finned squid landings.From 2016-2018, between 7% and 22% of long-finned squid catches in Northeast Atlantic were from the Celtic Seas. Landings reached a low of around 600 tonnes in 2006, increased to around 2,700t in 2011 and dropped to 600t again in 2016. They increased substantially again in 2017 and dropped by more than 50% in 2018. Squid abundance can fluctuate with changes in environmental conditions, but the occurrence of these boom and bust cycles in landings may be at least partly fishery driven. This suggests that exploitation levels are above optimum, and there may be concern for the fishing pressure. From 2016–2018, loliginid squid landings were above the average in Rockall (6b) and below the average in the south west of the UK (7f-k).There is no information about the abundance of European squid in this area. Some surveys are carried out to assess biomass, but in the Celtic Seas a considerable proportion of the long-finned squids are not identified to species. When looking at trends for long-fined squids in general, the average abundance from 2016-2018 is lower than 2013-2015. There could, therefore, be concern for the biomass.Overall, UK catches of Loligo species in the Northeast Atlantic have increased 40.4% from 2015 to 2019 (2,362 tonnes to 3,315 tonnes) and the average price increased 16.6% from £3.61/kg to £4.21/kg. Squid fisheries are likely to continue to grow in importance and magnitude as many finfish stocks either are fully or over-exploited. Without adequate stock assessments, there could be concern for future impacts on stocks.

In UK waters, squid fishing is unregulated and no appropriate management is in place for these fisheries.Despite the importance of several species for European fisheries, there is limited management of the fisheries and no routine assessment. Data collection is often either not part of routine fishery data collection or the data are inadequate for assessment. Increasingly, however, cephalopods are seen as alternative target species to replace overexploited finfish stocks, and the growing fishing effort means that management will almost certainly be needed within the next few years.Squid catches are not subject to landings quotas and there is no routine assessment of squid stock(s) to inform management.Management of cephalopod fishing in Europe is largely limited to Minimum Landing Size (MLS) regulations in southern Europe. No minimum legal size applies to squid in this region of the Northeast Atlantic, but in Spain and Portugal a 100 mm MLS for Loligo species is imposed.Trawling is restricted by the present EC regulations on mesh size. However, studies on the selectivity of diamond, hexagonal, and square-mesh codends confirmed that the legal minimum mesh size and codend configurations for demersal trawling are not suitable for regulating fishing on cephalopod species.Loliginid discards are generally negligible and in 2016–2018 represented around 1% of total catches. However, in some areas (7c, 7g and 7h) discards ranged 7-16% in 2016-2018.Loss of eggs either due to trawling over spawning grounds or egg laying on fixed gear may be important and there has been evidence of growth overfishing (high catches of very small squid followed by lower catches later in the season) in the Moray Firth.Both the EU and UK have fishery management measures in place, which can include catch limits, targets for population sizes and fishing mortality, and controls on what fishing gear can be used and where. In the EU, compliance with regulations has been variable, and there are ongoing challenges with implementing some of them. There was a target for fishing to be at Maximum Sustainable Yield by 2020, but this was not achieved.  The Landing Obligation (LO), an EU law that the UK has kept after Brexit, requires all fish and shellfish to be landed, even if they are unwanted (over-quota or below minimum size). It aims to promote more selective fishing methods, reduce bycatch, and improve recording of everything that is caught, not just what is wanted. Compliance with the LO is generally poor and actual levels of discards are difficult to quantify using the current fisheries observer programme. In the UK, it is too early to tell how effective management is, as the Fisheries Act only came into force in January 2021. The Act requires the development of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) (replacing EU Multi-Annual Plans) but there are no details yet on how and when these will be developed. FMPs have the potential to be very important tools for managing UK fisheries, although data limitations may delay them for some stocks. MCS is keen to see FMPs for all commercially exploited stocks, especially where stocks are depleted, that include: Targets for fishing pressure and biomass, and additional management when those targets are not being met Timeframes for stock recovery Technologies such as Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) to support data collection and improve transparency and accountability Consideration of wider environmental impacts of the fishery

Most squid is caught by trawlers. There is a potential for damage to the seabed by trawling, and bycatch of unwanted species.In the Northeast Atlantic, long-finned squids such as European squid are mostly caught by trawlers: 92% of the catch from 2016–2018 was by trawling (97% in the Celtic Seas).Squid can be caught as bycatch by trawlers targeting finfish (such as cod and haddock). In these fisheries, discarded undesirable bycatch can represent over a quarter of the total catch. This may include endangered, threatened or protected species in certain circumstances.Squid is also directly targeted in some areas, e.g., Rockall Bank (West of Scotland) and in the Moray Firth (North Sea). These trawlers use a small mesh size of around 40mm, but bycatch is not thought to be a major concern. However, they may also occasionally catch larger amounts of unwanted species (up to 25% of total catches by weight).Long-finned squids are eaten by several large pelagic and demersal fish as well as marine mammals. The impact of the fishery on these predator species is not known.Demersal otter trawls use doors to hold nets open that penetrate the seabed, resulting in the abrasion of habitat features. The ground ropes, sweeps and bridles of the trawl can have similar abrasive impact. Various closures are in place in the area of this stock, including UK and European Marine Protected Areas. Some MPAs are designated to protect benthic features. If those MPAs were found to be subjected to bottom trawling, MCS would consider it a default red rating unless there is evidence (e.g. environmental impact assessment) indicating the activity does not damage the integrity of the site.