Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Fish Tales

This week one of our prominent CEDO researchers is off putting Peñasco's conservation efforts on the map! René has travelled to Acapulco to speak at a coastal fishing forum, on the successes of a subcommittee who have placed a temporary ban on the fishing of the Jaiba (or Swimming Crab in English) during it's reproductive cycle, allowing the jaiba to flourish unlike before.

The fisheries department is also working with local fishermen in the Northern Gulf, principally here in Peñasco, involving them in the monitoring of the jaiba, rock scallop and snails. CEDO seeks to work with the community and involve them directly in the conservation of the local areas, knowing that this is the way to successful conservation efforts - we can't do the job alone!

The estuaries of the Northern Gulf of Califonia are said to be the 3rd most productive ecosystem in the entire world, only following on the rainforests and coral reefs. The wetlands research team is currently disecting moluscs in order to analyse the carbon levels within the species. This is part of a wider project which, in short (!), is aimed at working out who eats who, and what, in these vital wetlands; information that will then help scientifically prove the value of the area, and hopefully further conservation laws.

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