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Environment

Squid fishing is booming in unregulated parts of the ocean

To lure squid to the surface, fishing vessels often use bright lights than can be seen by satellites. This has allowed researchers to track squid fishing that occurs away from oversight

By James Dinneen

10 March 2023

Fishing vessels are catching squid at night.

Satellites can spot squid fishing vessels from their lights

Shuttestock/Ccu.bat

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. “It’s very rare that you get a complete picture,” says Katherine Seto at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

To get a more complete view, Seto and her colleagues…

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