Every year they come.
They come casting their nets, hoping to bring in the big catch, supplying calamari lovers everywhere with their favorite appetizer.
This year, they came in force; such force that it caused a few residents to complain about the boats trawling the waters off Malibu, shining lights so bright they wake them up in the middle of the night.
Some residents complain it is abusive, the numbers of fishing boats that have been fishing off shore in the past month. At one count, there were 16 commercial boats, fishing for 24 hours straight. There have been as many as 25 on some evenings.
Other residents, not opposed to the squid harvest, likened the presence of the boats to a “source of beauty,” “with the dancing green blue and amber mast and deck lights shining across the dark water.”
Complaints of seal bombs being set off were also made by some residents. Seal bombs are like huge underwater firecrackers that are used to scare away seals, which, some say, eat the squid.
The reason the squid are here in such large numbers is not known, however, Charles D. Warren, from the Southern California Marine Institute, said that squid congregate to spawn, and where they do so is determined by the water conditions and the time of year.
Traci Bishop, marine biologist with the Department of Fish and Game, marine division, said, “Squid are highly mobile and move around depending on water temperatures and food availability.”
“You’ve got nice shallow, sand water habitat,” said Bishop of conditions off the Malibu coast that may attract squid.
The squid lay egg cases on sandy bottoms.
She said, traditionally, most landings (spawning) occur off the Channel Islands.
The allegations about seals eating squid, said Bishop, are “definitely not the case.”
“It’s not so much that they eat squid,” she said. “But they can damage nets. It’s an impediment to their [fishermen] fishing.”
Bishop said she does not believe the bombs hurt the seals.
Lynwood Pendleton, assistant professor of International Relations and Environmental Studies at USC, said, “Seals are not a huge competitor of squid.”
“The numbers [of squid] are so large,” he said, “the only thing that is stopping them [fishermen] is time, and the number of boats.”
Most of the squid caught are shipped overseas to China, where the demand is “really high,” said Pendleton.
He also said the cut up calamari served at local restaurants is most likely processed overseas, unless it is ordered fresh or whole.
The average squid boat catches up to 40 tons in one evening. The lights, which have been bothering some people, are used to attract the squid.
“Squid are like moths,” said Pendleton.
The fishermen use “purse-seine” nets to scoop up the squid.
Mary Frampton, an environmentalist and Malibu resident, said she does not believe there should be commercial fishing “in force” off the coast.
“I think you have to declare an area that is free from assault and harm,” said Frampton.
Sally Womack, a Malibu resident who worked with the Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies at USC, has a different take.
“It’s like a wonderful ballet,” she said of the boats. “I like to see them fish there.”