New Fishery Appears in Gulf of Maine waters - Longfin Squid

[johnnyd]

People began noticing swarms of squid under the pier lights on Northhaven island recently, startling even the Old Timers.

http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/A-New-Fishery-in-Maine/14963/

Portland restaurants and fish markets have always ordered their squid from Port Judith, Rhode Island, where the local Portuguese community consider it essential to their cuisine. No one bothered to consider it here in the Gulf of Maine, but I've noticed "locally-caught" signs on squid displays just in the last two months.

Glen Libby - President Port Clyde Fresh Catch:

“We’d like to see an incremental approach to this new resource that has just ‘appeared,’ if you will. Sure, it seems plentiful, and we could go out there and take as many as we can, but we’ve tried the industrial approach. You end up with a whole infrastructure that requires a lot of money to maintain. It’s kind of neat to see someone who doesn’t have two nickels to rub together go out with a hook and line at night and come in in the morning, and make a few bucks. That’s the ultimate entrepreneur, isn’t it?”

Some say the this year's warm water - the possible cause of lobster's early molting this year - might have brought squid to more Northern climes, but in the article, Mr. Libby remembers seeing them all over as a child.

When I was a teenager in Southern Portugal, each July we would see lots of little lights floating off shore about 200 meters. They were squid fishermen in small boats. They were in little groups, and you could hear guys talking, laughing, and occasionally singing as they floated on the current. Of course, there were tons of squid for sale the next morning, and more than a few squid specials on the restaurant menus.

Needless to say, I am ecstatic about this new development.