I found the following info relating to UK squid fisheries -
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Quote:The life history of squid in UK waters is not fully known. They are thought to live mainly in deep water on the Atlantic edge of the continental shelf, and to move inshore seasonally, probably in association with the breeding cycle. Squid grow fast; Loligo reach sexual maturity 1 year after hatching. The females spawn in then-second year, when the mantle reaches a length of up to 18 cm, and then die. The males reach a length of about 30 cm at the end of the first year, and can be 50 cm long when 2 years old. The life span of squid is seldom more than 2-3 years.
Squid feed on plankton after hatching, but the adults are active predators which feed on crustaceans, fish and other squid. Although some species drift with the ocean currents, the commercially important species are active swimmers and move rapidly through the water by jet propulsion; they contract the thick muscular wall of the mantle and expel water forcibly through the syphon.
The fishery
The potential sustainable world catch of all cephalopods from all continental shelves is estimated to be 8-12 million tonnes a year; if oceanic cephalopods are included, this figure is increased somewhere between 8 and 60 times. Much of this resource is unlikely to be fished commercially, because it is thinly scattered throughout the oceans, but nevertheless the cephalopods are believed to be a major and largely untapped source of marine protein.
Squid are found in waters all round the UK, and are landed in small amounts at most ports. The most prolific catching areas are south west Scotland, the Moray Firth, Rockall and Faroe. The squid fishery fluctuates from year to year, since in such a short lived species it is so much dependent on the success or failure of a particular breeding season. The squid fishery tends to be seasonal, coincident with the movement from deep water to inshore grounds. The fishing seasons are as follows.
North Sea, Moray Firth September-November
Shetland December-February
Rockall June-August
Faroe, North west Scotland All year, but most abundant in December
South west Scotland October-December
English Channel September-December
Squid are caught in UK waters mainly as a bycatch when trawling or seining for white fish; since squid tend to swim off the bottom, the best catches are obtained with midwater trawls or high headline bottom trawls. Nevertheless a high proportion of the smaller squids can readily escape through the meshes of a typical trawl.
Jigging is a method used for capturing squid in quantity in other parts of the world; the Japanese use a mechanical jigger with lights that attract the squid towards a number of lures moving ecccntrically through the water on a power driven belt. The squid attach themselves to the lures and are hauled from the water onto the deck of the fishing vessel. The method is unlikely to be readily adaptable to UK waters.
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