Through the BORA Blue Ocean Research Alliance ®, the aim is to carry out a regional modelling of Essential Fish Habitat for the Grey Triggerfish (Balistes Capriscus) in Southern Brazil. This project will be undertaken with Instituto Federal do Espirito Santo (IFES). NOC’s habitat mapping and IFES’s species knowledge can majorly contribute to the understanding of the declining stocks of the highly valued Grey Triggerfish. This can be used to guide future marine spatial planning and sustainable management.
Grey Triggerfish are categorized as globally vulnerable (VU) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). There is growing concern about the decline in abundance of Grey Triggerfish which is of high commercial value as the South region of Brazil relies heavily upon its artisanal fishing industry and therefore the Grey Triggerfish. IFES had a successful reproduction of the species under controlled conditions in 2021.
The objective of this study is the identification of Essential Fish Habitat for several life history phases of the Grey Triggerfish in Southern Brazil with both desk and field research. Data collection will involve the Subsea7 Ubu Spoolbase. It is the hope that the data gathered contributes to the conservation of the species and to further improve the work IFES is undertaking to protect Grey Triggerfish.
