Resumen del producto

The jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas supports an economically relevant fishery in the central region of the Gulf of California, Mexico. However, in recent years, landings of this species in the port of Guaymas, Sonora has declined significantly. We associated monthly jumbo squid landing records (January 1998 to March 2012) with monthly sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll a from satellite imagery and coastal upwelling index (CUI) in the fishing area as proxies of seasonal and inter-annual changes in the epipelagic habitat. Jumbo squid catches landed at Guaymas were high between June 1999 and December 2004 (328,903 t) associated with cold SSTs (La Niña 1999) and high chlorophyll a concentrations caused by intense CUI. From January 2005 through March 2012, catches progressively decreased about 31.8% of previous captures (104,829 t). This capture decline was associated with a progressively warmer habitat with less chlorophyll a and considerably lower CUI. Six fishing surveys carried out to the central Gulf of California with jig sampling indicate that jumbo squid tend to distribute in regions with low SST and high chlorophyll a, confirming its association with cold and productive areas. Fishermen would expect recovery of jumbo squid catches in the Central Gulf of California only when environmental conditions return to cold andhigh chl-a concentrations.

Palabras clave: fishery; Jumbo squid; Paralarval assemblages; Temperature; satellite; chlorophyll-a

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