The jellyfish fishery in Mexico

Juana López-Martínez, Javier Álvarez-Tello

Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CIBNOR), Unidad Sonora, Campus Guaymas, Guaymas, México;.

DOI: 10.4236/as.2013.46A009                

Abstract

Jellyfish has been captured in Asia for 1700 years, and it has been considered a delicacy. Since the 70s important jellyfish fisheries have developed in several parts of the world, with catches increasing exponentially, reaching 500,000 tons per year in the mid-nineties. In Mexico, only the cannonball jellyfish Stomolophus meleagris is captured commercially. Most of the capture of this jellyfish species is obtained within the Gulf of California, specifically in the state of Sonora. The total reported capture in 2010 was 16,581 metric t and 14,220 in 2011. With these capture volumes jellyfish was ranked as the third most important fishing resource in the state of Sonora. The fishing season in Sonora is from April to May; a total of 4 or 5 weeks, and the catch per unit effort is around 3 tons by trip. Currently, there are nine jellyfish marketing companies, with about 20 processing plants distributed along the coast of Sonora, primarily in Guaymas, Kino Bay, and Puerto Penasco. Although the process is simple, the large amounts of jellyfish required and the need to optimize production costs make jellyfish processing an intense activity that employs hundreds of people during the fishing season, becoming an alternative employment for the people who depend on the fishing industry.

Keywords

Jellyfish; Gulf of California; Stomolophus meleagris; Sonora

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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