About Us
A Hidden Gem Whose Potential Is Only Beginning to Be Understood.
For more than 50 years, Alaska has overlooked a remarkable marine resource, Magister Squid (Berryteuthis magister armhook squid). Today, advances in science and seafood processing, together with changing markets, create an opportunity to develop that resource responsibly—for the benefit of coastal communities, consumers, and the marine environment.
There is an important historical reason for that 50-year gap. Prior to the establishment of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ, foreign fleets commercially harvested squid in waters off Alaska, proving decades ago that squid could support a lucrative commercial fishery. Yet when foreign fishing ceased and Alaska’s economically important fisheries flourished, a directed Magister squid fishery did not follow suit. For half a century, this resource has not been harvested commercially.
This lack of a directed squid fishery raises a counterintuitive ecological question: if Alaska squid once experienced substantial commercial harvest and has now gone unharvested for decades, what, if anything, has that change meant for the broader marine ecosystem? Magister squid are both predator and prey and occupy an important position in the food web. We are not presuming that harvesting squid will improve other fisheries, nor presuming that leaving them unharvested is harmful to our fisheries. However, these are questions we feel are worth answering as the resource develops as a viable commercial fishery.
The Alaska Squid Company was thus founded to develop the enormous potential of a new squid fishery for Alaska.
Our Primary Objective
To develop a sustainable commercial fishery for Alaska’s Magister squid and introduce this remarkable seafood resource to the marketplace.
From Untapped to Possible
If the opportunity is so promising, why hasn’t someone done this before?
The answer is not that Magister squid suddenly appeared, or that its potential was deliberately ignored. For decades, Alaska had abundant and highly valuable fisheries that commanded the attention of fishers, processors, scientists, regulators, and investors. There was little reason to look deeper at a species for which there was no established fishery, limited scientific information, no developed domestic market, and no proven harvesting or processing infrastructure.
What has changed is not simply the recognition of our underutilized squid resource. What has changed is the world around it.
Changing Environment
Alaska's marine environment and fisheries are evolving, both economically and ecologically.
New Technology
Modern harvesting and processing provide capabilities that were unavailable to earlier generations.
Better Science
New tools allow a deeper understanding of marine resources in new ways.
Changing Markets
The demand for sustainable seafood is creating new opportunities in the USA and globally.
Opportunity & Responsibility
The Alaska Squid Company believes these converging forces create an extraordinary opportunity – and a responsibility. We intend to harvest Magister squid. We intend to process it, sell it, build markets for it, and create a commercially successful Alaska seafood business around it. But we also believe the long-term value of this resource will be determined by how we develop it.
That means learning while we harvest. It means working with scientists rather than waiting for every scientific question to be answered. It means testing new fishing and processing technologies. It means listening to fishers, chefs, processors, communities, regulators, and markets. And it means looking beyond the mantle as a seafood product to understand whether other parts of the animal can create added value rather than becoming waste.
Commercial development and better scientific understanding do not have to occur separately. A carefully developed fishery can create economic value while also generating information that helps us better understand the role Magister squid plays in Alaska’s changing marine ecosystem.
Responsible Resource Development Through Science, Innovation, and Collaboration.
The Future of Alaska Squid
That is not an academic exercise. It is our business strategy.
By understanding the resource better, fully using each part of the squid, developing higher-value products, improving harvesting efficiency, and building markets deliberately, we believe ecological responsibility and economic opportunity can reinforce one another.
The Alaska Squid Company does not claim to have all the answers. Our role is to provide the foresight, leadership, persistence, and collaboration necessary to bring the right people together and find them.
The question is no longer simply, “Why hasn’t someone done this before?” The more important question is, “Why now?”
And for the first time, we believe we have a compelling answer.