Warming Seas, Heatwaves and a Hungry Predator Drove a Squid Fishery to the

A new analysis published in Communications Earth & Environment warns that Japan’s flying squid fishery in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) may be heading toward collapse as ocean conditions shift faster than the species can tolerate. Using multi-decadal oceanographic and fisheries data from 1993 to 2025, researchers led by Seongsik Park of Pukyong National University’s Research Center for Ocean Industrial Development concluded the decline is driven by interacting climate pressures: gradual loss of suitable thermal habitat, more severe marine heatwaves, and the rapid arrival of a warm-adapted predator. The study employs sequential mediation analysis to trace how rising temperatures cascade through ecological pathways that ultimately suppress squid catches.