After 14 years of raising garibaldi, California’s state marine fish, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (CMA) has set a new record in the Aquatic Nursery this season with 71 healthy garibaldi juveniles. This is more than double the number of baby garibaldi in previous years.
“This year’s success reflects all of our hard work dedicated to continually improving and refining the best techniques for growing garibaldi from eggs to proactively limit the need to take garibaldi from the wild,” said Director of CMA Mike Schaadt. “Now we will be able to donate this popular display fish to even more aquariums and zoos.”
The rich orange colored fishies — often mistaken for goldfish — live in the kelp forests around the SoCal coastlines and Channel Islands. Legislation was passed in 1993 to protect over harvesting of garabaldi, especially from the saltwater aquarium industry that targeted the fish for it’s bright color and ease of capturing.
CMA staff and volunteers use a scientific collector’s permit to carefully gather garibaldi eggs from Outer Cabrillo Beach. Eggs are raised in the Aquatic Nursery where young volunteers and visitors can check out how fast these fish can grow.
