Gulf of California

Increased development in and around the Gulf of California continues to threaten the ecosystems of this biologically rich region as well as the economic industries based upon these ecological resources.  The goal of this research is to integrate ecological information and fisheries data to more effectively conserve this system. This will involve quantifying fishing efforts operating throughout the Gulf region, documenting the current and past status of fish communities throughout the Gulf thereby demonstrating the effects of fishing on these communities, and communicating these results to fishers, policy makers and the general public to effect better management of these resources.

Projects include:

Reef Fish Conservation in Eastern Pacific
A collaborative effort between scientists, government agencies and the public to achieve conservation objectives for reef fishes in Southern and Baja California.

Discovering the Hidden Biodiversity of the Gulf of California with DeepSea
A study of marine habitats with DeepSee (a custom-built submersible capable of depths exceeding 475m) will provide important information about the diversity, ecology, and behavior of organisms inhabiting these ecosystems and will reveal clues regarding the ecological connections between shallow and deep habitats of the marine environment.

Coastal zone fish and fisheries in the Gulf of California
This project seeks to 1) quantify the current fishing efforts operating throughout the entire Gulf region on a spatially explicit scale, 2) document the resource base (fish communities) in both the present and the past to reveal trajectories of change, 3) demonstrate the effects of fishing on fish communities, and 4) communicate findings of these fundamental linkages and importance of resource management to the primary stakeholders (i.e., the fishers), policy makers and the general public.

Vaquita Conservation
Various researchers following the world's most endangered marine mammal.
 

Recent Activities

"Monitoring Cruise, Summer 2009: A Natural History Expedition"
In July 2009, 21 researchers from the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (CMBC) and Universidad Autónoma Baja California Sur (UABCS) embarked on a 30-day cruise to survey islands and reefs throughout the Gulf of California aboard the vessel Don Jose.  During the expedition, teams surveyed large conspicuous fishes (73 sites), small cryptic fishes (29 sites), reef invertebrates (73 sites), and mangrove forests (51 sites) across more than 5.5 degrees latitude.  Preliminary results from this extensive monitoring expedition are available for download here:
Cruise Report 2009

 "Biology, management and conservation of Fish Spawning Aggregations" Symposium
October 28, 2008, Los Arcos Hotel, La Paz BC.S
Download Invitation Symposium & agenda (pdf)

Photos on this page from Marco Octavio Aburto-Oropeza