Pitufa.at

Most people hear squid and think “Calamari fritti”, but here in Fiji we meet squids when we go snorkeling and these fascinating, colour-changing, curious creatures are so much more than the rubbery rings that are served in restaurants.
Quite often they hang out next to the boat, preferably near the anchor chain in line formations, constantly chatting with each other by complicated shifts in colour. Usually they scatter when we approach them snorkeling, but last week we met two that curiously approached us!
According to Wikipedia 3 million tons of squid are fished every year and imagining the number of these delicate creatures you need to reach such an incredible weight it seems clear that this kind of overharvesting cannot be kept up much longer–it is certainly not sustainable. Squids and cuttlefish are not listed as endangered species, but then we lack studies about what’s going on in the oceans… They are an important prey for predators including sharks, sea birds, seals and whales. As a keystone species low in the food chain we don’t know what impacts the uncontrolled human fishing has on those species that rely on squids for their nutrition.