PME Aids Preservation of Abalone Fields, Guadalupe Island, Mexico

Located approximately 150 miles off the west coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula lies the Biosphere Reserve Isla Guadalupe, a volcanic island that is home to a wide variety of migratory and endemic species of plants and animals, including the Guadalupe fur seal, the elephant seal, the great white shark, and a significant percentage of Guadalupe’s cypress population. The Reserve is also a source of economic activity for the community of abalone and lobster fishermen, who have inhabited the island for more than 60 years and contributed to its preservation by establishing protected zones where fishing is not permitted.

In an effort to support the continued conservation of these protected species, the Guadalupe Island community recently acquired 10 PME miniDOT sensors to measure the effect of climate change on abalone populations. The miniDOT logs with exceptional accuracy the dissolved oxygen concentration and temperature of the water, allowing researchers to establish the extent of climate change and its impact on the development of the abalone populations.

The sensors, which were placed by 10 women certified in scientific diving, have since been removed, and the community is now plotting the information gathered to be compared alongside the amount of product extracted during the 2015 fishing season. This will generate a database against which environmental changes and their impact on the abalone population can be can be monitored and analyzed over time.

PME is proud to have partnered with the Biosphere Reserve Isla Guadalupe community on this project, and we are committed to empowering researchers with the precision sensors, software, and measurement tools that contribute to the preservation of our flora and fauna populations around the world.