Ron Hirschi, a local marine naturalist, is reporting Humbolt squid being caught on salmon gear in the central Strait of Juan de Fuca. Will they come all they way in in 2010?
11.30.09
Recreational salmon fishers are now catching them as far east as Sekiu in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Watch for further reports as they invade the (now officially named) Salish Sea (aka Puget Sound, Hood Canal, Admiralty Inlet, etc).
Catches of the big squid are on standard salmon gear – cut plug and whole herring trolled or mooched. This is all much to the culinary delight of local fishers.
Ron Hirschi
Squid Watcher, Marrowstone Island, Washington State
The photo demonstrates that they are swimming in a habitat where they could decimate orca prey (salmon) or become orca prey themselves. There is some sparse evidence that residents orcas eat eight-armed squid. One squid beak has been observed in the stomach of a stranded transient killer whale. And offshore orcas in the Pacific are thought to feed on squid in addition to sharks.
This article by Chris Dunagan states that the Humbolt squid are known to move with schools of Coho and consume both forage fish and salmon smolts. It will be very interesting to observe the net effect of the squid on the Salish Sea ecosystem.
