Posted by seahunt on February 11, 2004 at 04:52:18:
In Reply to: Those charming little creatures with the pointy heads posted by stephen clark on February 10, 2004 at 20:48:58:
Squid are like mice or rabbits in the trophic levels. Just about everybody eats them.
Specifically, we have no idea how many are required by other species. You are talking about massively complicated ecological energetics equations.
In general though, you are talking about taking out a huge basic pillar of the ocean food chain. Humans are removing the food chain at all levels, be it the lowest level that eat zooplankton (anchovies, herrings, squid, etc) the middle level that eat them (mackerel, bonita, rockfish, tuna, swordfish, yellowtail, etc) or the top trophic level like sharks. They are all under intense pressure.
It's not a pretty picture.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt