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Bycatch: Sonora Scorpionfish
May 17, 2016
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Eric Magrane and Maria Johnson
The Sonora Scorpionfish (Scorpaena sonorae) is a species that is taken as bycatch in the shrimp trawler industry in the Gulf of California. Bycatch is a term that refers to all species caught that are not the target
species, so in this case, everything that is not shrimp. 85 to 90% by weight of catch in the trawling industry in the Gulf is bycatch. This poem and drawing are part of a co-produced research project that we are undertaking with the Next Generation of Sonoran Desert Researchers 6&6 art-science endeavor. The project has brought us out on trawlers overnight in the Gulf. We thank the field station at Prescott College’s Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies in Bahía de Kino, Sonora, Mexico.
The Sonora Scorpionfish is in the family Scorpaenidae. A small benthic fish (living on the floor), no larger than eighteen centimeters (~7 inches), it is known especially for its venomous spines. Trawler fishermen have reported their arms going numb for a day after being inadvertently jabbed by the fish’s spines. In the drawings that accompany this poem, one fish has spines partially raised, while the other has them completely raised. This is a defensive mechanism in response to being caught indiscriminately in the net.
Sonora Scorpionfish (by Eric Magrane)
at night you wait
like a rock
ocean floor
caresses
your counter-shading
under white
endemic
patience
then brisk ambush
but trawl nets
aren’t fooled
by camouflage
or dissuaded
by venom
what are the chances
from thousands of eggs
one will grow to display
your red pectoral fin
will be dragged up
from the depths
dropped onto the boat deck
where we sort shrimp
what are the chances
a human will be drawn
to your sharp appearance
pick you up
by instinct or chance
and the next day
their arm will go numb
all numb,
is that slight
consolation?
Eric Magrane is the coeditor, with Christopher Cokinos, of The Sonoran Desert: A Literary Field Guide (University of Arizona Press, 2016). He is currently completing a PhD in geography at the University of Arizona. His website is ericmagrane.com.
Maria Johnson is an illustrator and marine conservationist. For several years she has worked on a shrimp trawler bycatch study in the Gulf of California with Prescott College's Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies. Her website is mariareneej.wix.com/artwork.
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