Improving scientific knowledge and management of barred sand bass stocks in Mexico

• Create an age-structure model to predict effects of harvest rates on barred sand bass (Paralabrax nebulifer) stocks
• Establish a comprehensive stock assessment to inform the harvest strategy and harvest control rules
• Close knowledge gaps on the fishery’s interactions with barred sand bass and the wider ecosystem

Progressing towards certification

The Mexico North Pacific barred sand bass pot and trap fishery is an artisanal operation working along 150 km of coastline off Mexico’s central Baja California peninsula. Its catch volume makes it the third largest fishery in Baja California Sur (BCS) state. The sustainability of the stock and the minimisation of ecosystem impacts are important for the future of local economies and livelihoods.

Barred sand bass are thought to outperform other comparable species in terms of reproduction rates and numbers of sexually mature individuals. But for the fishery to achieve its sustainability goals and meet assessment criteria of the MSC Fisheries Standard, its effects on stock numbers must be scientifically ascertained.

Jorge Alvarez Gutierrez, PhD candidate at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine Sciences, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico, is a recipient of an OSF Student Research Grant. His research will support the fishery, which is currently part of the In-Transition to MSC Program, to meet sustainability criteria and progress toward assessment to the MSC Standard in early 2026.

What the project will do

The fishery is currently in a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP). Gutierrez is working with the fishery and FIP partner - scientists at conservation group Pronatura Noroeste and fisheries NGO IMIPAS (formerly INAPESCA) - to make a comprehensive assessment of the fishery’s effects on the local barred sand bass population. This includes gathering more information on the species’ reproductive rates, age of sexual maturity and other population and life history factors that can affect overall stock size.

The Student Research Grant will contribute to nine months of research in which Gutierrez will analyse and identify knowledge gaps to help the fishery meet performance indicators required for certification to the MSC Fisheries Standard.

The research will incorporate scientific literature reviews and quantitative analysis; the outputs will inform an age-structured model that predicts the effects of the fishery’s harvest rates. This data will establish a comprehensive stock assessment for a harvest strategy and harvest control rules. Additionally, Gutierrez’s research will help address a lack of data on fishery interactions with barred sand bass habitats and the wider ecosystem.