where have all the octopus gone?

[ballastbelly]

is it just me, or have other people noticed octopus are missing from our costal waters this summer? in previous years in summer i never snorkled without encountering at least two small ones,  this summer 1 out of every 10 trips i see a small one.

its not a case of them being caught before i get there, as i am not seeing any fresh empty midden nests  either.
. 

my theory is the sea has gotten warmer that usual & they are staying deeper out to sea

[EmicMalta]

Taht il gageg tat tonn u l awrat. Arahhom jramplu u jtelaw il qarnit. Jsib jikol  b xejn is sena kolla, bl ikel li jaqa minnhom

[octo hunter]

I've asked this question all of summer. It is true that under the cages there is a lot of octopus but it surely is not the only reason. Many times this summer I've been in places where one normally catches octopus and you'll encounter some daft person diving with cylinders and catching a lot of octopus indiscriminately - especially when in summer they are so small (Once I saw someone with some 100 octopus or more) Also there are too many people catching small undersized octopus. If things continue like this it will not be long before you have to look at a picture to see a decently sized octopus. 

[ballastbelly]

yes those who collect undersize affects, but when this happens i expect to see empty midden nests left behind with piles of discarded shiny shells that show there was an octopus (imqar a small one) there in that hole  till a few hours before. 

i am not seeing any fresh nests.  its like they vanished.  either this years generation died from something or they went somewhere else.

[octo hunter]

They do not let them settle for at least a day. How can you find shells? Most of the octopus I ve seen this year were below the 8-10 m depth. This tells me that the small ones which seem to have disappeared have started to learn that below certain depths it is safer.

[redhead]

Collecting octopus or any kind of fishing using aqualungs is illegal. Report any abuse to the authorities. This money making, sea emptying practices have to stop. I fully agree that anyone has the right to collect a couple of octopus to feed himself and his family as a hobby. But using aqualungs to catch 100 octopus just for the money is unethical and these people are destroying our sea.

[octo hunter]

That's what I did twice but the police were so fast that the persons involved had the time to kit, dive, come out of the water, wait for a person to collect them up and vanish. The same persons regularly dive at xrobb l-Ghagin and at Valletta near the waterpolo pitch.

[ciappinu]

Octopus are not yet on this year. My theory is also that the sea is too warm. True that overcatches affect, but usually by this time of the year numbers of octopus inshore grow.