Southern California Bight Elasmobranch Consortium (SCBEC)

The Southern California Bight supports a variety of commercial and recreational shark fisheries typically targeting valuable species such as Thresher and Mako sharks. Other less valuable species, such as Blue sharks or protected species such as White sharks also incur mortalities as part of incidental by catch. Due to the impacts of theses fisheries and the modification of critical habitat for nurseries the past century has seen drastic reductions in shark populations within the Southern California Bight. There is a great need for information that would enable managers to appropriately protect this resource and manage it in a way that is productive for the economic and ecological health of the region. There is also an urgent need for engaging the public regarding the precarious state of some of the species populations that reside within the Southern California Bight.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

The Southern California Bight Elasmobranch Consortium is a partnership of researchers, management agencies and outreach venues throughout the Southern California Bight. It was founded to address the Southern California Bight Elasmobranch conservation concerns through research collaborations and educational outreach programs regarding elasmobranchs.

NOAA South West Fisheries Science Center

Under normal circumstances, the primary stakeholders and managers working within the Southern California Bight, fisheries managers, scientists and public officials work independently. This means that information frequently flows slowly between the different stakeholders. An important goal of the Southern California Bight Elasmobranch Consortium is to facilitate the flow of information and assist the partnerships among these different groups. It is also a vital function to engage the public in local issues that are important for elasmobranch conservation. Headquartered at the laboratory of Dr Jeffrey Graham at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) the Consortium includes scientists at SIO, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, the Birch Aquarium at SIO, the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), and others.

Long Term Research Goals of the Southern California Bight Elasmobranch Consortium

Study and document regional phenomena known for elasmobranchs in the SCB such as the aggregations of leopard sharks in La Jolla Bay.  The aggregation of round stingrays in the heated discharge flow streams of some power plants.  The occasional occurrence of young salmon sharks in coastal waters.  The seaonsal movements of makos and threshers. 

Through the chronicling of information of this type and general information about the distribution, abundance, behavior and natural history of elasmobranchs, the public will become more familiar with them.  Associated with this familiarity will be an understanding of how the elasmobranch’s specialized reproductive biology makes them highly vulnerable to over fishing.