2022 has been a very interesting year so far for fishermen. Most notably so when millions of brightly colored fish began to migrate north into the waters off of the Southern California coast. These colorful fish are of course being the Mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish. This year has gone down as one of the greatest northern migrations in all of recorded Southern California history with millions of these fish moving into the waters as far north at Santa Barbara assumingly chasing bait up the coast. However, little is known about this pelagic species and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to record and predict the migratory patterns of these fish as well as all other pelagic species with the warming of the oceans. Though it does seem that the warmer water has pushed a lot more of these species such as the Wahoo and the striped marlin into the rich feeding grounds of sardines and mackerel off of our coast. With sport boats piling on thousands of these fish every week without seemingly making a dent it seems as though there are infinite amounts of these fish. With this not being the case for obvious reasons, there is a scientific explanation to why this species is able to keep on coming. For one Mahi reach sexual maturity extraordinarily quickly even among pelagic fish. One of these fish can be ready to reproduce in 4 months where they will produce 30-60,000 eggs. This allows for a rapidly regenerating population as well as making the Mahi a very efficient source of protein as it is very tasty (trust me) as well as very sustainable. While this fish may not be able to be farmed due to its pelagic nature, it is certainly a great example of a sustainable seafood source that is readily available for a good price in Southern California.
