SECTION 22 

 Longfin Squid {Loligo pealei) 



Life History Summary 



Longfin squid are found from New Brunswick, Canada to Georgia, with the 

 center of abundance located between Georges Bank and Cape Hatteras. Longfin 

 squid migrate seasonally during the late spring and summer months. Loligo are 

 distributed over the continental shelf to depths as shallow as 3 m, while 

 during the winter months, they tend to concentrate along the edge of the 

 continental shelf (Lange 1982). Serchuk and Rathjen (1974) found that few 

 large catches of Loligo are taken from areas where the bottom temperature is 

 8°C or less. The largest catches during the spring bottom trawl surveys were 

 in waters where the temperature was between 10° and 12°C, and during the fall 

 in waters between 10° and 14°C. 



A few Loligo are taken by recreational fishermen, primarily by jigging, 

 but the recreational fishery for squid is insignificant when compared to the 

 commercial fishery which has existed since the 180U's. Prior to 1964, the 

 fishery consisted only of domestic vessels; thereafter foreign fleets from 

 Japan, Spain, Mexico, Italy and other European countries began to harvest the 

 squid off the Atlantic coast (Cohen 1976). 



Large spawning concentrations of 1-1 Vj? year old longfin squid are found 

 inshore (3-30 m) from Cape Cod to Delaware Bay from May to Septemoer. The 

 fertilized eggs are attached to seaweed or any other immobile bottom object. 

 Mesnil (1977) suggests that the young that are spawned in the spring, hatch in 

 June, and reach spawning maturity in the late summer of the following year. 

 The young that are spawned and hatch during August and September will, in 

 turn, not spawn until after their second winter. Depending on temperature, 



474 



