To maintain a healthy marine ecosystem and proper fisheries management, Pronatura Noroeste works with the Barred Sand Bass (Paralabrax nebulifer) fishery in Punta Abreojos, Baja California Sur, under the Fishery Improvement Project model.

The Barred Sand Bass FIP, which is conducted with nine cooperatives of the Baja California F.S.L. Regional Federation of Fishing Industry Cooperative Associations (FEDECOOP), is formally in the execution phase, according to the Fishery Progress external evaluation platform in which the project enrolled in 2018.

The Coordinator of Fisheries Science for Pronatura Noroeste, Dr. Carlos Alvarez Flores, said that the barred sand bass fishery in Punta Abreojos is expected to serve as a functioning model for other users to begin joining in the medium term.

To estimate the sustainability of this fishery, a pre-assessment was conducted, and it found that 64% of the barred sand bass FIP indicators are located at an optimum level, based on the Marine Stewardship Council certification principles.

With the points in need of improvement already identified, during the coming months, Pronatura Noroeste and FEDECOOP will outline improvement activities in the work plan for 2023.

“If we manage to get 80% of barred sand bass producers to enter into a program of this nature, something extraordinary will happen that would serve for the preservation of the resource and assurance of its viability,” concluded Dr. Carlos Alvarez Flores.