Do humans eat octopuses and squids?
Yes: • On menus, squid may be called “calamari”. • Black pasta is coloured using squid ink. • Greek restaurants sometimes serve pickled octopus, called octopothi. How do humans harvest octopuses and squids? • Fishers trawl for octopuses using weighted chains that drag along the ocean floor, scaring the octopuses into a net. Another method involves lowering traps and pots which octopuses will use as shelters. Spear fishing and drift fishing are also practiced. • Fishers catch squids by jigging. They shine bright lights and drop lines into the water with special lures called jigs, which they jerk up and down, attracting squids to the light and movement. Recently, fishers have begun to use large seine nets that encircle the squids, forming pockets and trapping them. There are 15 major harvesting areas for squids worldwide, but only two have sustainable harvests today. What other predators do squids and octopuses have? • Common predators of octopuses and squids are moray eels, fishes, seal
