Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Review Of The Global Commercial Cephalopod Fishery, With A Focus On Apparent Expansion, Changing Environments, And Management, Corey Clark

HCNSO Student Capstones

Cephalopods are both important predators and prey in many marine environments and important fishery resources in many countries. The global fishery has expanded almost continuously from landings of 580,000 metric tonnes in 1950 to over 4 m.t. in 2007. Cephalopods are ecological opportunists with highly plastic biological characteristics and varied population dynamics. Nearly all commercially harvested species are short-lived and can reproduce quickly, enabling them to evolve more rapidly under high selection pressure relative to many fish competitors and predators. As a result, they may have the biological means to be successful under conditions of long-term global climate change. This …