The Use of Digital Media in San Diego Fish Conservation

Why Fish Conservation?

Since the 1990s, overfishing has created a noticeable decline in "fishery biomass" and has really affected migratory fish, such as tuna (4). While the popular bluefin and yellowfin tuna are very popular fish species to target in San Diego, there are many fish less-known to the public outside of the regular fishing community and researchers.

Many are unaware of the fish they consume and the effects human-caused consumption and pollution has on our local species. Fish are not only important to those who catch and consume them, they are also vessels that transfer energy within their ecosystem. There are so many fish species that are relatively unknown and are misidentified by fishermen due to lack of drive, as well as resources to easily access fish identification.

So with the increased reliance on social media and technology, outreach using digital media is important in showing key attributes of popular and unpopular fish species in order to aid in conservation in preventing the wrong fish from being targeted while fishing.

Background on Fish Identification

Cool Video Resources

  1. Fischer, J. (2013). Fish Identification tools for biodiversity and fisheries assessments. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.12490.93125

  2. Robertson, D. R. (2014). Smithsonian Fish ID Guide Apps: Digital identification guides to two neotropical shore-fish faunas. Reef Encounter 29(1), 24-26. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/D-R- Robertson/publication/282610210_Smithsonian_Fish_ID_Guide_Apps_Digital_identification_guides_to_two_regional_neotropical_shore-fish_faunas/links/5613d28408ae983c1b401977/Smithsonian-Fish-ID-Guide-Apps-Digital-identification-guides-to-two-regional-neotropical-shore-fish-faunas.pdf

  3. Sbragaglia, V., Correia, R.A., Coco, S., & Arlinghaus, R. (2020). Data mining on YouTube reveals fisher group-specific harvesting patterns and social engagement in recreational anglers and spearfishers. ICES Journal of Marine Science. 77 (6), 2234–2244.

  4. Palomares, M. L. D., Froese, R., Meeuwig, J. J., Noel, S.-L., Tsui, G., Woroniak, J., Zeller, D., Pauly, D. (2020). Fishery biomass trends of exploited fish populations in marine ecoregions, climatic zones and ocean basins. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 243(2020), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106896