661 



Abstract — Novel data on the spatial 

 and temporal distribution of fishing 

 effort and population abundance are 

 presented for the market squid fishery 

 lLoligo opaleseens) in the Southern 

 California Bight, 1992-2000. Fishing 

 effort was measured by the detection 

 of boat lights by the Defense Meteo- 

 rological Satellite Program (DMSPi 

 Operational Linescan System (OLS). 

 Visual confirmation of fishing vessels 

 by nocturnal aerial surveys indicated 

 that lights detected by satellites are 

 reliable indicators of fishing effort. 

 Overall, fishing activity was con- 

 centrated off the following Channel 

 Islands: Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, 

 Anacapa, and Santa Catalina. Fishing 

 activity occurred at depths of 100 m or 

 less. Landings, effort, and squid abun- 

 dance (measured as landings per unit 

 of effort. LPUE) markedly declined 

 during the 1997-98 El Nino; land- 

 ings and LPUE increased afterwards. 

 Within a fishing season, the location 

 of fishing activity shifted from the 

 northern shores of Santa Rosa and 

 Santa Cruz Islands in October, the 

 typical starting date for squid fishing 

 in the Bight, to the southern shores 

 by March, the typical end of the squid 

 season. Light detection by satellites 

 offers a source of fine-scale spatial 

 and temporal data on fishing effort for 

 the market squid fishery off Califor- 

 nia, and these data can be integrated 

 with environmental data and fishing 

 logbook data in the development of a 

 management plan. 



Fishery dynamics of the California 

 market squid (Loligo opaleseens), 

 as measured by satellite remote sensing 



Michael R Maxwell 



University of California 



c/o Southwest Fisheries Science Center 



8604 La Jolla Shores Drive 



La Jolla, California 92037 



Present address: Department of Biology 

 University of San Diego 

 5998 Alcala Park 

 San Diego, California 92110 



E-mail address. maxwellm@sandiegoedu 



Annette Henry 



California Department of Fish and Game 

 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive 

 La Jolla, California 92037 



Christopher D. Elvidge 



NOAA National Geophysical Data Center 



325 Broadway 



Boulder, Colorado 80305 



Jeffrey Safran 



Vinita R. Hobson 



Ingrid Nelson 



Benjamin T. Tuttle 



Cooperative Institute for Research in 

 Environmental Sciences 

 University of Colorado 

 Boulder, Colorado 80303 



John B. Dietz 



Cooperative Institute for Research on 



Atmosphere 



Colorado State University 



Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 



John R. Hunter 



Southwest Fisheries Science Center 

 NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service 

 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive 

 La Jolla, California 92037 



Manuscript submitted 24 February 2003 

 to the Scientific Editor's Office. 



Manuscript approved for publication 

 17 June 2004 by the Scientific Editor. 



Fish. Bull. 102:661-670 (2004). 



The market squid I Loligo opalesce?is) 

 (also known as the opalescent inshore 

 squid, FAO [Roper et al„ 1984]) is cur- 

 rently the largest revenue fishery for 

 California (Vojkovich, 1998; CDFG, 

 2000). The fishery's importance rose 

 steadily in the 1980s and 1990s, in 

 response to increased demand in Asia 

 coupled with declines in other fisheries 

 off the U.S. West Coast. Market squid 

 is a short-lived species (Jackson, 1994; 

 Butler et al., 1999) whose abundance 

 appears to be readily impacted by 

 environmental variability. For exam- 

 ple, squid landings plummeted during 

 the 1997-98 El Nino but reached a 

 record high in the following year 

 (CDFG, 2000). Considered an inte- 

 gral component of California's pelagic 

 fishery, the market squid was included 

 in the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery 

 Management Plan as approved by the 

 Pacific Fisheries Management Council 

 in 1998. In this plan, federal authority 

 is invoked to monitor the fishery to 

 ensure the provisions of the Magnu- 

 son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 

 Management Act of 1996. If a resource 



is estimated as overfished, the Coun- 

 cil is to consider implementing active 

 management measures. 



The lack of records of fishing effort, 

 such as vessel logbooks or observer 

 data, hampered initial attempts to 

 formulate a management plan for the 

 market squid. The nature of the fish- 

 ery, however, suggested an alternative 

 measure of fishing effort: the detec- 

 tion of boat lights by satellites. The 

 market squid is typically harvested on 

 shallow nearshore spawning grounds 

 in the Southern California Bight and 

 Monterey Bay (Vojkovich, 1998). At 

 night, specialized lightboats shine 

 high intensity (c. 30,000 watt) lights 

 on the water, which attract and con- 

 gregate the squid near the surface. 

 Seiner boats then capture the con- 

 centrated squid with purse-seine nets 

 (Vojkovich, 1998). The lights of the 

 fishing boats are detected and record- 

 ed by the U.S. Air Force Defense Me- 

 teorological Satellite Program (DMSP) 

 Operational Linescan System (OLS). 



DMSP-OLS satellites continuously 

 orbit the planet, acquiring data on 



