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05. SPAWNING AGGREGATIONS
Spawning aggregations are massive gatherings of fish for breeding, a behavior shared by many species across the globe in many different habitats. Spawning aggregations support some of the most productive fisheries: from multibillion-dollar industries to subsistence cultures, yet we are only beginning to understand their value for marine ecosystems and food security, and their vulnerability. In the upper Gulf of California, in Mexico, a large marine fish known as Gulf Corvina offers an insight into the importance of this behavior.
GO TO IMAGE GALLERY
WITH SUPPORT FROM
The Walton Family Foundation
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
IN COLLABORATION WITH
Marine Science Institute,
University of Texas
Science and Conservation of Fish
Aggregations (SCRFA)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
PRODUCTION
Brad Erisman
Octavio Aburto
DIRECTION
Jaime Rojo
SCRIPT
Brad Erisman
Exequiel Ezcurra
Octavio Aburto
Jaime Rojo
VOICE OVER
Exequiel Ezcurra
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO
Alfredo Barroso
Paul Collins
Richard Barnden
Tania Escobar
Lee & Phil Burghard / Wild Shutter Imaging
Eric Clua / SCFRA
Biopixel.tv
DPS / Shutterstock
VideoFort / Shutterstock
Nimrod Amitai / Shutterstock
VIDEO EDITING
Jaime Rojo
MOTION GRAPHICS
Juli Martínez
MUSIC AND FX
Ernesto Paredano
COMMUNICATIONS
AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Isaac Bazán / Romboh
Andrea Bizberg
WEB DESIGN
Yin-lai Trinidad, Setentayocho
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Coral Reef Research Foundation
The Koror State Government, Palau
University of Texas at Austin,
College of Natural Sciences
Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson
Martin Russell
Will Heyman
Catalina López
Isaí Domínguez, CONABIO
Ana Domínguez
IMAGE GALLERY
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Spawning aggregations are massive gatherings of fish for breeding.
Bigeye Trevallys, Cabo Pulmo, Baja California ©Octavio Aburto
This behavior is shared by many species across the globe, often including 95% of the population of one single fish.
Grunts in a mangrove forest, Baja California, Mexico © Octavio Aburto
This behavior is shared by many species across the globe, often including 95% of the population of one single fish.
Twin Spot Snapper, Palau © Richard Barnden
This behavior is shared by many species across the globe, often including 95% of the population of one single fish.
Sailfin Snappers, Palau © Richard Barnden
This behavior is shared by many species across the globe, often including 95% of the population of one single fish.
Moorish Idols, Palau © Richard Barnden
This behavior is shared by many species across the globe, often including 95% of the population of one single fish.
Bumphead Parrotfish, Palau © Richard Barnden
This behavior is shared by many species across the globe, often including 95% of the population of one single fish.
Orangespine Unicorn Fish, Palau © Richard Barnden
Spawning aggregations support some of the most productive fisheries.
Fishermen loading corvinas for the market, Santa Clara. Baja California, Mexico © Octavio Aburto
We are only beginning the value of spawning aggregations for marine ecosystems and food security, and most important, their vulnerability.
Researcher studying the spawning aggregation of Bigeye Trevally in Cabo Pulmo, Baja California © Octavio Aburto
In the upper Gulf of California, in Mexico, a large marine fish known as Gulf Corvina offers an insight into the importance of this behavior. During a single fishing season, up to 2 million corvinas can be caught in just 25 days of labor.
A truckload of corvinas in Santa Clara, Upper Gulf of California. © Octavio Aburto
The illusion of plenty of the spawning aggregations is a consequence of our inability to know how many fish are truly under the water.
Researcher records sounds production of corvinas in the Upper Gulf of California to estimate the density of the aggregation. Photo courtesy of Gulf of California Marine Program
Spawning aggregations are a critical step in the life cycle of many fish species, but in the past two decades, many have declined or collapsed due to overfishing
Fishing pier in San Felipe, Baja California Norte, with six huge totoabas, 1925.. Foto: Pier Fishing in California.
A small investment in the protection of spawning aggregations, the mechanism that sustains the replenishment of the fisheries, can offer disproportionately large benefits to both ecosystem and local communities.
Fisherman in the Upper Gulf of California © Octavio Aburto
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