Squid Conservation Efforts
While the various species of squid aren’t endangered, the fact that they don’t live a very long life is an area of concern. They only survive one year on average with some species making it for two years. The fact that they end up being prey for many other types of animals in the water isn’t anything new.
However, some wonder if the conservation efforts out there to increase other types of creatures will result in a drop of squid. After all, those additional life forms are going to need a great source of food to survive on and squid may be what is turned to in order to provide it. This is why researchers are keeping a good eye on such balances so that they don’t help one creature at the expense of another.
Older squid often die due to their stomach and caecum drying up as they get older. This generally will occur after the cease to take part in reproduction. Without these bodily functions though the food they taken in can’t be broken down and later absorbed for survival.
Efforts are in place to try to get squid in captivity to live longer. Such research is there to try to find out what it is about their environment that can result in them dying at such an early age. Those that don’t die due to predators or stomach problems won’t live more than a few years. By being able to find ways to extend their life though this can help to make sure the numbers of squid stay high enough.
More than two million squid are captured annually as part of the commercial fishing harvest. It is no secret that many people love to consume squid. You likely know it by the name of calamari. Just about every part of the squid can be used to make it as well. Many researchers are concerned about the amount of squid that are harvested annually for this process.
Due to the advanced in boats and ships, nets, and other devices it is faster and easier than ever to capture the squid. Since there is big money involved with the sell of it, there are many people getting involved in this type of industry. Are we going to deplete the available sources of squid? One way that is being controlled is to prevent the capture of squid during the spawning times when mating is going to take place so that the process of reproduction and depositing the eggs can occur.
Some types of squid such as the Colossal squid have been though to be endangered in the past. This was before we had the technology to really find out about them. Since so few of them were seen they were believed to be with very low numbers. However, instead it is now known thanks to underwater cameras that they are a plentiful species.
Even though the squid isn’t endangered at this time, there are some conservation efforts in place. Protecting their natural habitat is one of the main aspects of such efforts. Keeping the water free from pollution is another because it can lead to the premature death of squid. The younger ones often consume bacteria and organisms that can be deadly to them.
The more we learn about the needs of squid, the easier it will be for us to focus our attention on the best ways to conserve them. They are much more important to the overall survival of various life forms in the water than we give them credit for. Even though their own lives are short, they allow many others to flourish for decades.
