Last March I posted about a little problem with the east cost longfin squid fishery:

The nets that fishermen use to catch longfin squid also ensnare butterfish. And butterfish populations are very low. In fact, in 2004 a stock assessment workshop determined that butterfish were officially overfished (read that phrase aloud--it's fun!). 

Strict limits on butterfish bycatch keep squid fishers from catching as many squid as they'd like. If only they knew exactly where butterfish were on any given day, they could fish for squid in butterfish-free zones and skip the bycatch problem.

If you have not already read the hysterical Texts from Cephalopods, you must do so. Preferably somewhere that it is acceptable to shriek or snort with laughter. However, beforehand, you must prepare yourself by watching (or re-watching) the drunk octopus' YouTube channel.

That was a joke; the drunk octopus doesn't have a YouTube channel (as far as I know). But if he did, it would contain all the videos linked from the titles of the text exchanges. While you're reading, look for the ones that are underlined, like Octopus Takes an Interest in Cinematography.

There was only one video missing from volta_arovet's brilliant dialogue. It is this:

The first Circus of the Spineless of 2012 is up at Wild About Ants! Check it out for some very doable new year resolution suggestions. (Like "get to know tiny spiders"--we can all do with a little more arachnomania, can't we?) There's also a nice post linked about the color-changing octopus and squid that I neglected to cover here.

I'll blog about sinking squid tomorrow, I promise! Sorry for the slow updates over the holiday season. My attention was diverted by some medical adventures as well as family time, but all is well now and I'll be coming back up to speed.