Baja California is among the top four Mexican states for fishing, with a combined total catch
volume of 70% of the county’s catch and 68% of the nation’s fisheries income. More than 60%
of Baja California’s catch is exported to Japan, the US, and other countries in Asia. Most of the
fished species are strongly associated with coastal ecosystems such as abalone, lobster, sea
urchins, sea cucumbers and sardines.
With climate change and over-exploitation, fisheries in Baja California have suffered declines.
Thus, we are working on promoting the integration of fisheries ecology and aquaculture to
enhance natural populations by re-stocking and conservation efforts.
Our projects on fisheries and aquaculture include:
- Red sea urchin fishery: Modeling and forecasting ( Alfonso Medellin )
- The effects of the invasive macroalgae on the comercial red sea urchin fishery and subtidal marine communities in Baja California (Sarah Teck and Julio Lorda)
- Conservation Aquaculture (Jeremie Bauer, Christian Vela & Rodrigo Beas)
- Enhancing the growth of Green Abalone by co-cultivating with Warty Sea Cucumber (Jeremie Bauer)
- Warty Sea Cucumber (Parastichopus parvimensis) culture manual (Christian Vela)