The importance of cephalopods in sustaining marine ecosystems cannot be overstated. Worldwide, they are a key component of food webs, providing a major prey source for coveted fish species like tunas and salmon, cetaceans like dolphins, sea lions and whales, and a variety of seabirds.
Squids in the Spotlight uncovers the huge scale of the global squid fishery, which has grown over 10-fold since 1950 to almost 5 million tonnes annually in the last decade and is now jeopardising marine ecosystems around the world. Operating out-of-sight in international waters, the meteoric rise of squid fishing and resulting demand for the species has no historical precedent, with some areas seeing a more than 800% increase in the number of vessels in just the last five years.
The cumulative impacts of climate change, ocean acidification, pollution and overfishing of vital species like squid make it startlingly evident that humankind is modifying marine ecosystems at a scale never before seen in history.
Download the full report: Squids in the Spotlight