Can Sound Save a Fish?

Point of Discovery

Gulf Corvina look pretty ordinary—they’re a couple of feet long and silvery. Yet the sounds they make—when millions get together to spawn—are a kind of wonder of the natural world. It’s also why they are in danger. Gulf Corvina live in only one place in the world—the Gulf of California. A decade ago, the Mexican government asked marine biologist Brad Erisman and his colleagues to study the Corvina. They were worried that heavy fishing might cause the population to collapse. When Erisman put a microphone in the water for the first time, he was blown away by the sounds he heard.

Learn More

Video: Spawning Aggregations (by Natural Numbers): https://youtu.be/bpLMCyx9cic
Video: Corvina Harvest, El Golfo (by Marine Ventures Foundation): https://vimeo.com/21330986
Biological and fisheries monitoring of the Gulf Corvina in the Upper Gulf of California (by dataMARES): http://datamares.ucsd.edu/eng/projects/fisheries/biological-and-fisheries-monitoring-of-the-gulf-corvina-in-the-upper-gulf-of-california/
Unmanaged Fishing at Spawning Sites Put Species, Economies at Risk (by UT Marine Science Institute): https://utmsi.utexas.edu/blog/entry/unmanaged-fishing-at-spawning-sites-put-species-economies-at-risk

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Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery .

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Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

About Point of Discovery

Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences and is a part of the Texas Podcast Network. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RSS, Amazon Podcasts, and more. Questions or comments about this episode or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart.