MFR PAPER 11 10 Stndes are being made toward tapping a large oceamc protein source. Squid-Its Potential and Status as a U.S. Food Resource SEA RONA ftr::"""r--RADULA VINCENT G. AMPOLA Wl®<:j:\1G:Jtt.I]t- CEPHA L1C CARTILAGES as one counts from the dorsum. are INTRODUCTION call ed te ntacles and are about twice rhere are about 350 specie; of quid as long as the a rms. that Inhabit the oceans a nd sea of the The ink sac is a reservoir conta in ­ KIDNEY INK SAC \\llrld The) belong to the di\ision of ing a brown o r b lack viscous fluid \\ hi ch is ejected through the siphon mnllu,c~ \.-ml\\ n as cephalopod. the +r--O-++I#-- HE ART "head-follted" anima ls. close re la tives \\ he n the quid is a larmed . This "ink" III the cuttlelishes and octopi. a nd no t on Iy forms a n effective screen --:!---+II-I---GUT mllre dl tantl) related to clams. 0) s­ behind which it can escape. but it is tel". and ,caliLlp~ In facl. the fringe belie\ ed tha t the a lka lo ids present in III appendage; ~urroundlng the head it paralyze the o lfactory sense of the an~a III all cephaklpods I~ a modi fica­ enem). thu a iding the squid in its tHln III the tle,h) foot of their primi­ escape. #--PEN tl\ e nll1llu,can ancestors. and th e The unusual coloration of cephalo­ 'Ingle .... knder chl tln ou, "pen" that pods is caused by the prese nce of pig­ line the Inl\~rnal dorsum of the bod ) ment cell s or chromatophores in the I' all that remaln~ of the shell. The integument that contai n red. blue. dl,tlnctl\ e mllrphologlcai features of ) e ll 0\\ . and black pig me nts in con­ Figure 1.-A squid in lonlliludinal seclion, ex­ cluding l ailfins. c! t,plcal sqUid are ,ho\\n In longi­ centrations specific to each species. tudInal 'ectilln in f-Igure I. The chromatopho res are contro ll ed According to Voss. who is cited in \11 ,quid, propel themsehes b) by muscles whic h a re actua ted to a n a rticle in Fishillg N e il'S I lIl erno­ td\.-Ing In and Illrclhl) e\pelling expand o r contract by visual or 01- liOIlOI (A no ny mous. 1973). those pa rts \\.II<:r In111 the mantle ea\ it) through factor) stimuli . thus c ha nging the of the sea from the middle of the the "phnn rhe force and direction of color of the a nima l. It has been o b­ continental slopes to the shore line the \\,Iter e pelkd plu the undulation sened by th e author a nd fis hermen where cepha lopods a re presently be ing 01 lin Ind blllh determines the direc­ that a ft er death . it is the release of fished constitute less than 10 percent t "ll and peed lli the a 111 mal The) the e pigments into the flesh o f the of the total ocean s urface. Present nll1\C llpp" ItL t,l the direct ion of the a nima l tha t is a n indicator of the on- catches a re derived mostly from in­ \\,Iler ejected tWill the Siphon and ... 0 et of spo il age. s hore species a nd those oceanic squids c,ln 1l111\C IOr\\.lrd llr hae\.-Il ard \\ith that migrate to inshore waters during WORLD POTENTIAL gre.ll IdrlLllt, rhL' eirculatilln llf \Iater part of the ir life cycle. The squid re­ OF THE RESOURCE thnlugh Ihe 1ll.lntle ai'Ll rro\ldes 0\\­ source is therefore underex ploited in 'l'n t,lr thc gill, 1\ hlch hang free For centuri e!>. squid have been a bout 90 percent o f the world 's ocean 1IIIhin IhL t,l;\\.lrd rart ,lithe man lie used as an important a nd palatable area . In th e sa me article, other experts .1 \ III ,>ource of food in the countries bor­ es tima te lha t th e a nnual pote ntial \11 ceph,Ii,lr"ei, .Ire carnl\Of\)u,>. dering the ledlt erranean Sea a nd in production of oceanic quids probably .1Il.! Ihcn 1"Ul1g. uh I,t ,In 'mall the Onent. The) are found in a ll th e lies w ithin th e range of 90 to 280 Illil- Inlo.:r(chr.lte ,uch a Cl)replld,. '>ea and oceans of the world. and 1II'h.lll'l lei, ,Inei ga trllr,'d Older are sO numerous that they can be con­ Vincent G. Ampola is a Re­ qUId IIIL' lll1 It h lIeh .1 carelin. 'Idered Llne of the g rea tesl untapped search Food Technologist at l' I dll,t,ILL'dl1 ,In I "ther' 1l1,)llu,e, "luree'> of protein to be found In the the Northeast Utilization Re­ qUI I II u.dil iJd\C len ,Irpeneiage, m.lrtne en\ Ironment. Their fecundity search Center, National Marine oIrr.m 'cd 10 h\e 1',lIr ,Ir'lund Ihe and e\ceptlonall) hi g h gro\\th rate Fisheries Service, NOAA, h .Id I I 'hI Ir" h"lt .md hCd\ 1 dnd C,)lllhl ne I,) help en,ure a '>ubslantlal Emerson Avenue, Gloucester, thl' "'ltrth r,llr d,l\\ n. 11 hen MA 01930. 28 lion metric tons. From 1968 to 197 I , (the tail fin is about one- third of the meat cou ld till contain so me bone~: the reported world catch of all speci es body length), "summer ," or " N ew­ but for sq uid. once the beak and "pen" averaged 600,000 metric tons. foundland" squid, IIlex illecehrosils. It are removed in th e clea ning proce~~. Additional and pertinent info rma­ occurs southward to the Gulf of M ex ico there are no rema ining bones to con­ tio n on the world biomass and di tri ­ but is mos t commonly found in the ce rn the processor and. ultimatel). bution of oceanic squid, and the pres­ summer and fa ll from Cape Cod no rth ­ the consumer. In addition, th ere are ent gear and the numerous meth ods ward to th e Maritime Provinces. Its no data in th e literature at the present used in harvesting th em . is given by grea tes t use in th e past ce ntury or so time th at indicate that squid nesh Filippova (1970, and 197 1), Anony­ has been as cod bait both in Canada harbors any paras ites that are harmful mous (1973a). Voss (1973), and Zuev and the fisheries of Portuga l and th e to man . and N es is (1971). Scandinavian countries. In this coun­ try. this speci e is taken incidentall y MANUAL PROCESSING to trawling operatio ns. and very little is In order to hand-clean quid for THE UNITED STATES so ld to th e fresh market. further proces~ing , it is necessary to SQUID FISHERY The distribution, biomass density, wa h each one under running water in From 1968 to 197 I , th e reported some biological data. and th e meth ods order to remove any adhering foreign yearly U ni ted States harvest averaged and gear used in capturing these Atlan­ matter or ink which will stain the meat. 13.300 metric tons (A nonym ous. 1969. tic speci es are reported by Nesis The sq uid i then laid flat , and the 1970. 197 I , and 1972). About 90 per­ ( 1968). Noskov and Rikhter ( 197 1). arms and tentacles are severed from ce nt of this ca tch consisted of Loligo Rathjen ( 1973). Serchuk and Rathjen the body by cutting through the head oplI ll'lCem ca ught in southern Cali for­ ( 1974). Sq uires ( 1957), Vovk ( 1969). j ust in front of the eyes. The beak, nian coa tal waters . The fishery is and Vovk and Nigmatullin ( 1972). which is loca ted in a pouch in the base conducted year -round, w ith maximum of the corona of appendages (Fig. I), hau l taken from May to July. Mo t is removed by simply squeezing the NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS of this ca tch is ca nn ed o r froze n . but pouch out fro m its attachment with lately much of it is being so ld fresh . Compared to ot her marine animals thumb and forefinger. as it is rapid ly becoming a popular ea ten by man , squid have a larger To clea n th e body. insert a knife en tree in west coast restaurants. proporti on of ed ible parts to the whole blade into the mantle cavity and slit Another species of squid harvested body. With vertebrate fishes, the re­ th e m antle down to the base of the tail in the U nited States is th e long-fi nned coverable ed ible portion ranges from Pull out th e visceral mass, including or " bone" squid (so ca lled because of 20 to 50 percent : and in the commonl y the " pen," and discard . Lay the mantle it broad pen and a tai l half the length ea ten shell fish . th e edible parts are fl at , and with th e knife edge scrape away of its body). Loligo pealei . which in­ from 20 to 40 percent. In squids, th e any visceral remnants and ink as well habits the western Atlantic from Vene­ ed ible portion- which consists of the as th e pair of gi lls adhering to the 1Il­ zuela to ova Scotia but is most com ­ mantle.