The goal of the agreement between CICESE and the Front of Organized Permit Holders of the Social Fishing Sector of BC is to develop strategies to address the abundance of purple sea urchins in Baja California and limit the negative impact of this species on the marine ecosystem.
The agreement was signed by the Director of the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada (CICESE), Dr. David Hilario Covarrubias Rosales, and members of the group, which consists of 44 hedgehog breeders belonging to 23 cooperatives.
The problem with the purple hedgehog is its great importance. It has effectively become a pest, displacing the red sea urchin and destroying the macroalgae forests on which it feeds. Unlike the red hedgehog, small gonads (the edible part) are more commonly found in the purple hedgehog, which is why it is a species of lower value on the market.
Given this scenario, producers proposed removing the purple sea urchin from the sea and sending it to a fattening station, through a diet based on foods that strengthen the species for its use and that would be as valuable as the red one at that time Sea urchins. .
Researchers from the Department of Experimental and Applied Biology (DBEA) will be responsible for developing these methods in collaboration with hedgehog breeders.
It also aims to develop innovative techniques that offer a solution to the problem and that can be used in the future to benefit research and fishing communities.
Dr. David Covarrubias explained that the agreement is a motivation for the center, “a commitment that we make to create new bridges between the scientific sector and the productive sector.”
Dr. For her part, Rosa Reyna Mourio Pérez, Director of the DBEA, emphasized that part of the work of CICESE is to solve real problems, “and you offer us a great opportunity in very complex problems that require a solution that goes beyond the “empirical “goes out.”
Before signing the agreement, the Producers Front urged those present to put the agreement into practice and not just become another document. They also appreciated the opportunities and attention CICESE provided.
The signing of the agreement took place last Friday, September 8th, and Dr. David Covarrubias, members of the DBEA, the Front of Organized Permit Holders of the Social Fisheries Sector of Baja California and representatives of the Secretariat of Fisheries and Fisheries, were present at the event. Baja California Aquaculture.
