Big squid news, in California at least: the state Department of Fish and Game announced that the fishery for California market squid is hitting its harvest limit and is scheduled to be closed on Friday.

This is big news because A) market squid is the biggest fishery in California, worth tens of millions of dollars, and B) the harvest limit has not been hit basically ever.

I say "basically" because the rules of the game--the fishery management plans--were revamped eight years ago, and the harvest limit hasn't been hit since then.

Why was 2010 such a big year for market squid? Fingers point to a year of cold water, which has also been blamed for the general scarcity of Humboldt squid. But wait--last year was great for both species. Hmmm. Well, I said it once, and I'll say it again:

What with the who now? I'm confused! Let's get some scientists on this, stat!