Project: Biological model to reach a balance between conservation and sustainable exploitation of the marine resources in natural parks and reserves. Case study: Lion's paw scallop

Conservation of natural resources cannot be performed in isolation from social and economical needs of humanity. However, there are few alternatives or models to propose management of natural resources that are exploited by fisheries and aquaculture which would allow their conservation. Particularly in the case of aquaculture, and especially with native species, it is necessary to develop biological models that avoid impacting natural living populations of the same species, mainly in areas intended for conservation as reserves and natural parks.

For example, a cooperative of women in Parque Nacional de Loreto B.C.S. is looking forward to generating economic resources and employment for its working partners through the culture of lion’s paw scallop. However, a development of this type, without the knowledge of the  genetic structure of the species population could have already impacted the natural populations of Nodipecten subnodosus, for two main reasons:

• Transplanting fertile seeds (juveniles 1-3 mm) to coastal systems with natural populations that show a different genetic structure to that of the seed that was introduced;

• Sowing fertile seeds that derive from ‘mass induced’ spawning in laboratories using an effective number of an extremely reduced number of breeders that will directly or negatively impact natural populations.

To implement fishery management plans and regulations for the mobility of breeders used in seed production for aquaculture, as well as for sowing in different coastal systems, it is necessary to know the genetic structure of the species population in its distribution range in Northwest Mexico (Gulf of California and the Pacific coasts of the Baja California Peninsula).

Parallel to this priority, it is necessary to know natural population dynamics considering variations of marine climate, in this case, through the yield of this fishery because the biomass of this mollusk can increase or decrease widely, and it is the basis of constant provisioning of the same fishery, and of the breeders used for aquaculture.  

A historical decrease in biomass of the wild resource could have turned out to be a bottleneck with high loss of genetic variability, which can be reflected in current populations in the different distribution areas of this species inn the peninsula.

In this proposal we intend to evaluate a biological model involving the culture of infertile organisms (triploids) that will avoid such impact, sustained by knowledge of population genetics and fishery of a mollusk species, Nodipecten subnodosus, Lion’s paw scallop.