Mexicali, August 20. The Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) could earn up to five million dollars a year from the international marketing of farmed totoaba.
The rector of the university, Luis Enrique Palafox Maestre, said they are seeking to produce fingerlings to support companies that cultivate totoaba in San Felipe.
"We are applying for a permit from Semarnat to temporarily sell totoaba in the state. It expires in September, but it's a pilot project," he said.
Their project, he explained, is to move the production they have in Ensenada to San Felipe, as part of a plan to support families in the region.
UABC participates in the fattening of totoaba , an endangered species endemic to the Gulf of California, through research and aquaculture projects.
The university has conducted research on totoaba reproduction under controlled conditions and has released specimens into the Sea of Cortez for repopulation.
Palafox Maestre said they applied for a permit from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which allows the export of totoaba .
"The export of totoaba from San Felipe farms would be extraordinary to boost the economy," he said.
