Two juveniles groupers released by the IOPR

Two juveniles groupers released by the IOPR

The LANDEAU project consists in the study and ecological restoration of the lagoon of Brusc. It is in this context that the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute, in partnership with the Brusc fishermen prudhommie, collected fish post-larvae around the Isle of Embiez (in Six-Fours-Les-Plages, Var) for 6 months.

In September 2014 they had the happy surprise of capturing 2 small groupers in the CARE light traps developed by Ecocean.

Part  of this project consists in restocking young fish assimilated to the Brusc lagoon seagrass . As groupers do not belong to this ecosystem, they were released by 7 meters deep on a nearby stone, famous for the presence of young individuals of the same species. These two small groupers were captured at a size of 2 cm and bred in an aquarium up to a size of 10 cm, thus avoiding the high predation linked to early stage. So they have now all chances on their side and will later strengthen existing populations.

Anecdote: every grouper presents characteristic stains, somehow like an identity card. It will thus be possible to confirm their origin by photographic analysis.

Congratulations to the institute Paul Ricard for this successful operation and for the great video of the release!

Their website: http://www.institut-paul-ricard.org/