Evaluating the potential for trophodynamic control of fish by the longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealeii) in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Many marine apex predator populations have been depleted via targeted fishing, potentially enhancing the productivity of lower trophic-level species such as squid. Squid may be predators of juvenile stages of fish stocks, so fishing could induce depensatory juvenile mortality. Here we evaluate the energetic potential of the longfin inshore squid ( Loligo pealeii ) to exert trophodynamic control on recruitment of several commercially important fish populations. We estimated the population prey consumption of L. pealeii by developing bioenergetics and population models based on previously published data. Our predictions of population consumption showed that squid consume high quantities of prey on daily and seasonal time scales. Further, comparisons between our estimates of population consumption and fish recruitment biomass indicate that L. pealeii may potentially exert a trophodynamic control on the recruitment success of commercially exploited fish species even if these species are only a minor prey item of squid. Overall, our findings suggest that the predation interactions of L. pealeii should be considered when managing and rebuilding fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic continental shelf ecosystem.