Squid Shortage

* Re “House Panel Investigates Why Fishermen’s Loan Program Foundered,” July 29, about the alarming shortage of squid blamed on El Nino.

Last year, after watching a frenzy of activity at the Ventura Harbor week after week, I sauntered over to a woman recording on a clipboard enormous numbers of boxes being ice packed and loaded from the fishing boats onto the huge trucks. When I asked her what was going on, she happily replied that her company had an order for a hundred million pounds of squid to be shipped to China. I was astounded--and asked, isn’t there a danger of doing to the squid population what was done to the anchovy fishery? Not at all, she assured me, there are plenty of squid out there and the fishermen are happy to fill such a nice order.

This was just one small port, and if the same thing was going on all along the coast, I do not hold out much hope for a return of the squid, El Nino or no. And the ramifications along the food chain are already appearing.

In a bet between ecology and money, always bet on the money winning. You will never lose.

ALEX SHEPPARD

Reseda

Ventura County Letters