European squid
Loligo vulgaris
What to check for
Location
Location
Location refers to two things:
- Where the fish population or stock lives, e.g., North Sea, or South Pacific.
- Who is managing the fishery. If it says “All areas”, this means that our scoring for management covers the same area as the fish stock.
Celtic Seas: Cornwall
Technical location
Technical location
A global system is used to split the ocean into different zones, areas, and subdivisions. Each zone is indicated by a number and/or letter. By law, this must be shown on all unprocessed seafood sold in the EU and UK, alongside the fishing method used to catch it. Look for these details on the packet to match your seafood to our ratings.
7f: Bristol Channel, 7g: Celtic Sea (North), 7h: Celtic Sea (South), 7a: Irish Sea, 7c: Porcupine Bank, 6: Rockall, West of Scotland, 7j: Southwest of Ireland (East), 7k: Southwest of Ireland (West), 7b: West of Ireland
Caught by
Caught by
Hook & line (jig)
Jigging involves hooks and lines that are jerked up and down in the water by hand or machine to attract the target species. Bait is not normally used. Squid jigs are crowns of hooks set along a line a metre apart, put out at night. The squid are lured by lights shone from the boats.
Hook & line (jig)
Rating summary
For more information about this rating please visit: http://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/squid.php
How we worked out this Rating
Stock status
The size and health of a fish population, or 'stock', that is being targeted by fishermen is a crucial indicator of whether a fishery is sustainable. If the stock is too small to withstand fishing, it is at risk of crashing. We look at how big the stock is, and how much pressure there is from fishing, to assess this. The target level that many fisheries aim for is 'Maximum Sustainable Yield' - the most fish that can be caught year after year whilst keeping the population at a healthy size.
There is limited information about the stock size of European squid in the Celtic Seas, but there has been a general decline in squid in this area, so there could be concern for stock biomass. Landings have shown a boom and bust pattern, which could indicate overexploitation, so fishing pressure is also of concern.
Route 2 scoring has been applied to this rating owing to the lack of reference points for fishing pressure and biomass. European squid has low vulnerability (19 out of 100).
There are no stock assessments for squid species in UK seas. Two species of long-finned squids - European and veined - are caught together. This makes it difficult to infer species-specific trends. European squid is one of the most common squids in the coastal waters of the Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In the Northeast Atlantic, it is probably the main component of long-finned squid landings.
From 2016-2018, between 7% and 22% of long-finned squid catches in Northeast Atlantic were from the Celtic Seas. Landings reached a low of around 600 tonnes in 2006, increased to around 2,700t in 2011 and dropped to 600t again in 2016. They increased substantially again in 2017 and dropped by more than 50% in 2018. Squid abundance can fluctuate with changes in environmental conditions, but the occurrence of these boom and bust cycles in landings may be at least partly fishery driven. This suggests that exploitation levels are above optimum, and there may be concern for the fishing pressure. From 2016–2018, loliginid squid landings were above the average in Rockall (6b) and below the average in the south west of the UK (7f-k).
There is no information about the abundance of European squid in this area. Some surveys are carried out to assess biomass, but in the Celtic Seas a considerable proportion of the long-finned squids are not identified to species. When looking at trends for long-fined squids in general, the average abundance from 2016-2018 is lower than 2013-2015. There could, therefore, be concern for the biomass.
Overall, UK catches of Loligo species in the Northeast Atlantic have increased 40.4% from 2015 to 2019 (2,362 tonnes to 3,315 tonnes) and the average price increased 16.6% from £3.61/kg to £4.21/kg. Squid fisheries are likely to continue to grow in importance and magnitude as many finfish stocks either are fully or over-exploited. Without adequate stock assessments, there could be concern for future impacts on stocks.
Management
Good management is vital to be sure that fishing doesn't cause fish populations to decline. We look at whether regulations follow the best available scientific advice, how well compliance is monitored and enforced, and whether this is effective in maintaining healthy fish stocks.
For more information about this rating please visit: http://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/squid.php
Capture method
Environmental impacts of fishing vary hugely, depending on the method used and where it's happening. We look at whether the fishing gear being used could have an effect on seabed habitats, and if so, how severe might this be. We also review whether it catches any other species by accident (bycatch), and what effect this might have on those species - especially if they're Endangered, Threatened, or Protected.
For more information about this rating please visit: http://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/squid.php
References
For more information about this rating please visit: http://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/squid.php
Learn more about how we calculate our sustainability ratings.
How our ratings work
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