Some of the thousands of juvenile totoaba released into the Sea of Cortez.

Fish farmer releases 35,000 juveniles to help threatened species

Editorial team
Published

Totoaba producer Earth Ocean Farms (EOF) has carried out its eighth release of juvenile fish into the wild, taking the number of the endangered fish the company has released to 210,000 in nine years.

The totoaba population is threatened in the wild because of man-made changes to its breeding area and poaching for its swim bladder, which is used in traditional medicines in China and can fetch up to £15,000 on the black market.

EOF, which grows totoaba and red snapper commercially off the coast of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico, aims to boost the wild totoaba population by regularly releasing juveniles into the Sea of Cortez.

EOF has released a total of 210,000 totoaba juveniles since 2015.

It said repopulation through aquaculture, promoted and supported by conservation organisations and government authorities, is a crucial step toward the recovery of the species and contributes to the restoration of the ecological balance in the area. This year EOF released 35,000 juvenile Totoaba Macdonaldi which it transported almost 500 kilometres north by truck from its hatchery in La Paz.

“We are very excited to be able to carry out our eighth release of totoabas in the Sea of Cortez. The totoaba is an endemic species of the Gulf of California that is in danger of extinction, therefore, we must take measures to repopulate that Sea and encourage them to be as abundant as they once were,” said EOF commercial director Israel Marqueda.

Local communities

The juveniles were released at Santispac Beach, in Bahía de Concepción, in Baja California Sur. The release was performed in collaboration with the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) through its Wildlife Department (DGVS), other government agencies, and NGOs, and with the involvement of residents of local communities, including enthusiastic young people and children.

“It is essential that we continue to promote these activities in which all the desired parties are involved, especially children and young people, who are the key actors to achieve greater awareness in the long term,” said Marqueda.

The totoaba can reach a length of up to 2 metres and a weight of more than 100 kilograms in the wild.

EOF transported the fish from La Paz, nine hours to the south.
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