SEXUALITY AND CONSERVATION

At first glance, sexuality and conservation seem to be two disparate topics. But recent studies have revealed that sex changing tendencies of fish have a sizable role to play in sustaining their future populations in the wild. As it turns out, many species targeted for commercial fishing are endangered sex changers, a prime example being groupers. Groupers (family Serranidae) are slow-maturing fish whose populations are being heavily fished out worldwide. They start out as small females and later switch over to larger-sized males. Consistently fishing out specific sizes can potentially alter the sex ratios of their populations and make them vulnerable to reproductive failure. Scientists are now finding ways to incorporate the sexchanging behaviours of these fish into conservation planning – legally regulating fish catch sizes, fishing seasons and no-fishing marine reserves.