The squid in the boiler.

Here it is after boiling

Daruma

Clean and getting ready to be frozen

Ready to be frozen

The fillets are ready to be frozen

They are then put in plastic

Now it is frozen and ready to be shipped

Dosidicus gigas, the only species in the genus Dosidicus, is

 commonly known as the jumbo squid, jumbo flying squid

(FAO, see Roper et al., 1984), or Humboldt squid. It is the

largest ommastrephid squid and is endemic to the Eastern

Pacific, ranging from northern California to southern Chile

and to 140oW at the equator (Nesis, 1983; Nigmatullin, et

al., 2001). During the last two decades it has become an

extremely important fisheries resource in the Gulf of

California (Ehrhardt et al., 1983; Morales-Bojórquez et al.,

2001), around the Costa Rica Dome (Ichii et al., 2002)

and off Peru (Taipe et al., 2001). It is also an active

predator that undoubtedly has an important impact on

local ecology in areas where it is abundant (Ehrhardt et al.,

1983; Nesis, 1983; Nigmatullin et al., 2001; Markaida and

Sosa-Nishizaki, 2003).

Ommastrephid squid, including the jumbo squid, are

largely pelagic and may migrate long distances as part of

their life cycle (Mangold, 1976).

A general pattern of long-distance migration for the jumbo

squid over its entire range was proposed by Nesis (1983)

and smaller-scale migrations within the Gulf of California

have also been proposed according to the distribution of

the fishery during 1979−80 (Klett, 1982; Ehrhardt et al.,

1983). During this period squid were reported to enter the

Gulf from the Pacific in January, to reach their

northernmost limit (29°N) by April, and to remain in the

central Gulf from May through August; the highest

concentrations were found along the western (Baja

California) coast. From September onward these squid

appear to migrate eastward to the Mexican mainland coast

and then southwards, to the mouth of the Gulf and back

into the Pacific (Klett, 1982; Ehrhardt et al., 1983).Since

1994 a seasonal pattern in the jumbo squid fishery has

emerged in which large squid are abundant in the central

Gulf essentially all year. During November to May, the

fishery is centered in the area of Guaymas In Sta. Rosalia

the fishery operates from May to November, which is also

the period of peak landings (see Fig. 1; SEMARNAP, 1996,

1997, 1998, 1999, 2000; SAGARPA, 2001; SAGARPA1)

(see also Markaida and Sosa-Nishizaki, 2001). These

generally reciprocal landing patterns are consistent with

the abundance patterns described by Klett (1982),

although the exact migrations proposed by

Ehrhardt et al. (1983) have never

been directly observed (Morales-Bojórquez et al., 2001).

All these studies concerning jumbo squid

migrations have relied on analyses of landing

statistics and catch data acquired by fishing

stations on commercial squid-jigging vessels.

Although migratory patterns of several other ommastrephid species of commercial

importance have been directly demonstrated with conventional tag-and-recapture methods

(Nagasawa et al., 1993), to our knowledge jumbo squid has not been studied in this

manner. Given the commercial and ecological importance of this species, such studies

would be valuable.