I don't believe there is much that can be done about it. It might help to remove larger amounts of octopus, but, in the Pacific the continued overfishing of cannable species of tuna and swordfish have proven to give OPPORTUNITY to squid.
One thing about overfishing or environmental degradation (warm water or petroleum pollution) that leads to opportunity of other species to thrive, is that once a species is given a leg up, such as octopus in this case, it is all that much more difficult for the lowered populations of fish to recover. It is a matter of environmental resources and how they are obtained by recovering species. Removing the competitive species is the only way of redistributing resources in the depressed species favor.
The waters in Florida never got cold enough to provide a good catch for Southern Florida. I would suggest the Florida Marine Fisheries investigate this phenomena. It may be there are other reasons beside water temperature affecting the population as well. There are still significant amounts of chemicals at the bottom of the Gulf that could be having an impact on the fisheries. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute might be able to help, too.
Marine environments are always complicated, but, it is not as though the impact on fish species can't be sorted out and should. When species crash in population it usually is more an indication of the conditions they thrive in rather than the species themselves. So, if the stone crabs are low in number or missing from their usual environments that is a clear indication there is something wrong that will ultimately effect other species to crash, too.
For unknown reasons, it has been a banner season for octopus, a predator of stone crabs in the Keys and all along the state's Gulf of Mexico coast.
BY KEVIN WADLOW
KEYSNET.COM
Add to natural trends in warming oceans that allow OPPORTUNITY for other species and then realize the Florida waters are complicated by oil and debris and subaquatic environments hostile to stone crabs and the picture is fairly grim.
March 31, 2009 10:01 AM
...While many fish species (click here) have been declining in the Pacific, there has been a population boom in Humboldt squid....
by Jacek Majkowski
Already the temperate species of bluefin, most desired for sashimi, are overexploited, if not depleted. The Western Atlantic bluefin stock is depleted as is the southern bluefin. The yield-per-recruit of Pacific bluefin could be increased if catches of small bluefin taken by trolling and purse seining are reduced.
One thing about overfishing or environmental degradation (warm water or petroleum pollution) that leads to opportunity of other species to thrive, is that once a species is given a leg up, such as octopus in this case, it is all that much more difficult for the lowered populations of fish to recover. It is a matter of environmental resources and how they are obtained by recovering species. Removing the competitive species is the only way of redistributing resources in the depressed species favor.
The waters in Florida never got cold enough to provide a good catch for Southern Florida. I would suggest the Florida Marine Fisheries investigate this phenomena. It may be there are other reasons beside water temperature affecting the population as well. There are still significant amounts of chemicals at the bottom of the Gulf that could be having an impact on the fisheries. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute might be able to help, too.
Marine environments are always complicated, but, it is not as though the impact on fish species can't be sorted out and should. When species crash in population it usually is more an indication of the conditions they thrive in rather than the species themselves. So, if the stone crabs are low in number or missing from their usual environments that is a clear indication there is something wrong that will ultimately effect other species to crash, too.
For unknown reasons, it has been a banner season for octopus, a predator of stone crabs in the Keys and all along the state's Gulf of Mexico coast.
BY KEVIN WADLOW
KEYSNET.COM
The end of stone-crab season (click here) this week may be barely noticed by the Florida Keys commercial fleet.
With costs of making a trip to pull traps often higher than the value of claws harvested, many Monroe County stone-crabbers gave up on the poor season months ago.
The seven-month season, which ended Wednesday, was only weeks old when Gary Graves of Marathon's Keys Fisheries described a harvest "as bad as I can remember during my 45 years in the business.... It's just bleak."
It never improved, Rick Hill of Key Largo Fisheries said Tuesday. Fishermen count on cold weather to lure stone crabs into traps, Hill said....
March 31, 2009 10:01 AM
...While many fish species (click here) have been declining in the Pacific, there has been a population boom in Humboldt squid....
by Jacek Majkowski
Most tropical principal market tunas (click here) have reacted well to exploitation due to their very high fecundity, wide geographical distribution, opportunistic behaviour and other populations dynamics that make them highly productive. With proper management, they are capable of sustaining high yields. The possibilities of overexploitation and stock depletion should not be underestimated, however.
In the western and central Pacific, there is still a potential for significant increases in catches of skipjack. Higher catches of skipjack might be sustained also in the eastern Pacific and possibly, also in the Indian Ocean, but this is uncertain.
Concerns is also increasing over the overexploitation of bigeye, another species highly desired for sashimi, which is tropical and has a life span shorter than bluefin. In addition to possibly causing over-fishing, the increasing purse seine catches of small bigeye may negatively affect the longline catches of large bigeye, which has much higher prices.
The remaining stocks of tropical principal market species are close to being fully exploited.
Already the temperate species of bluefin, most desired for sashimi, are overexploited, if not depleted. The Western Atlantic bluefin stock is depleted as is the southern bluefin. The yield-per-recruit of Pacific bluefin could be increased if catches of small bluefin taken by trolling and purse seining are reduced.
The stocks of temperate species of albacore used mostly for canning are moderately exploited in the South Atlantic and the South Pacific, fully to overexploited in the North Pacific and overexploited in the North Atlantic. The status of albacore in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Indian Ocean is unknown....
When populations of predators at the top of the marine food chain collapse the remaining species have an OPPORTUNITY to explode their populations. In the case of species like squid and octopus any lack of predation allows huge explosions in populations because they produce large amounts of young in one spawning and then extrapolate that to a season and the pictures becomes obvious to why these species over take the waters.
Three species face global extinction, while two more will be under threat without action to help them
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
When populations of predators at the top of the marine food chain collapse the remaining species have an OPPORTUNITY to explode their populations. In the case of species like squid and octopus any lack of predation allows huge explosions in populations because they produce large amounts of young in one spawning and then extrapolate that to a season and the pictures becomes obvious to why these species over take the waters.
Three species face global extinction, while two more will be under threat without action to help them
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
...Dr Kent Carpenter, manager of IUCN's marine biodiversity unit (click here) and an author of the study, said: 'All three bluefin tuna species are susceptible to collapse under continued excessive fishing pressure.
'The southern bluefin has already essentially crashed, with little hope of recovery.
'If no changes are made to current fishing practices, the western Atlantic bluefin stocks are at risk of collapse as they are showing little sign that the population is rebuilding following a significant reduction in the 1970s.'
Most of the economically valuable species such as tuna are at the top of the marine food chain, and their decline could have negative impacts on other species....
