García-Baciero, A., J.M., Borges-Souza, J.R., Palomares-García, R., Rodríguez-Sánchez, U., Rubio-Rodríguez & H., Villalobos (2024). Monitoring fish populations using stereo-DOV-based surveys and open-access tools in the Gulf of California. Regional Studies in Marine Science. 81: 103926. DOI: 10.1016/j.rsma.2024.103926.
Alberto García-Baciero, José Manuel Borges-Souza 1, José Ricardo Palomares-García 1, Rubén Rodríguez-Sánchez 1, Uriel Rubio-Rodríguez y Héctor Villalobos 1
Monitoring fish populations is essential to assess spatial and temporal changes, particularly in an era in whichsome species are experiencing a rapid decline. Among the great diversity of methodologies for this purpose,stereo-video systems have grown in popularity in the past few decades. However, despite their advantages forsurveying fishes, funding for research and monitoring of marine systems is limited. In this context, we aimed toestimate fish relative abundance, species richness, and length-frequency distribution in a Marine Protected Area(MPA) integrating open-source software tools. We recorded fish species using a diver-operated stereo-videosystem (stereo-DOV) comprised of a pair of GoPro cameras. We conducted five surveys in El Bajo Espiritu Santoseamount (EBES; Gulf of California, Mexico) between September 2021 and October 2022. We registered 90,039individuals belonging to 26 species, from which 942 fish individuals from 13 species were measured. Speciesrichness remained about the same during the five surveys, whereas fish relative abundance was lower in March2022. Species composition shifted throughout the year, with 11–13 species found through the year, and the restfound seasonally. The methods presented here offer a low-budget option for institutions to conduct fish monitoringprograms
Palabras clave: Stereo-videography; fish assemblages; Length estimates; Monitoring; marine protected areas
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