Perspective
Conservation Across Borders Research indicating that the giant sea bass is critically endangered did not consider data from Mexico, where the majority of the species lives. Arturo Ramírez-Valdez
I
was looking at the seafloor, focused on identifying fish species as I normally did when diving off the California coast, when I suddenly sensed something large above me. When I turned my head, I saw an enormous fish—more than 2 meters long— calmly investigating the air bubbling from my scuba regulator each time I exhaled. This 2016 dive marked my first encounter with a giant sea bass. I am a marine ecologist who studies how international borders pose challenges for conservation and management efforts in aquatic environments.
Despite the absence of walls or fences in the ocean, borders can still act as stark barriers for a variety of marine activities, including research. Giant sea bass live off the western coast of North America in both Mexican and U.S. waters. Large differences between the two countries in regulation and research efforts have led to a significant misunderstanding of giant sea bass population health, including the likely miscategorization of the species as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Science Across Borders The giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas) is the largest coastal bony fish in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. It can grow to be up to 2.7 meters long and weigh up to 315 kilograms, and its life span can reach 76 years. It lives in coastal waters ranging from Humboldt Bay in far northern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico, including the entire Gulf of California. (In this article, I use California to refer to the U.S. state and Baja California to refer to the Mexican peninsula.) In California, commercial fishing for giant sea bass began in the late 1880s. The fish were abundant across the entire range until the early 1970s, when a sudden reduction in yield led to the collapse of U.S. giant sea bass fisheries. In 1981 the United States banned both commercial and recreational Giant sea bass live up to their name, as is evident when one is juxtaposed with a scuba diver. The fish were once common off the California coast, but sightings are now rare, and the species is considered critically endangered. However, that classification did not take into account data from Mexico, where the fish remain plentiful. Information siloed on the two sides of a border may hamper research and conservation efforts for other species as well.
Jeffrey Bozanic
QUICK TAKE Giant sea bass are heavily regulated and researched in the United States, but scientific and conservation efforts rarely extend beyond the border with Mexico.
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In Mexico, giant sea bass are largely unregulated and unstudied, but observations and data from fisheries indicate that the species remains plentiful.
Asymmetrical data and research can result in false impressions of a species’ population health and thereby hamper conservation and sustainability efforts.
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