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Timeline of social, political, economic, and ecological events before and after creation of the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve.
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Socio-political issues are important in environmental policy outcomes but are often overlooked in conservation planning. We analyze the effects of historical social, political, and ecological contexts on conservation policy outcomes as applied to the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve. A rushed implementation, perha...
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Context 1
... from Rojas- Bracho et al. (2006), we divide our analysis into four periods defined by significant events related to science, society, and flagship species linked to the Reserve (Table 2). Transitions between these periods are marked by: (1) the end of freshwater flow from the Colorado River and the first description of the vaquita, (2) the first formal assessment of the vaquita, and (3) the decree of the Reserve. ...
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Sediment discharges from rivers play a key role in downstream ecosystems, both for ecosystem morphology (e.g., deltas) and productivity. However, the construction of dams and river regulation dramatically alter sediment transport. Currently, the Colorado River delta is one of the most transformed deltas in the world and, most years, no flow reaches...
Citations
... Additional fisheries independent surveys in the region could also address the ecosystem-level questions. Our work also highlights that incorporating social factors into marine spatial planning Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent 2016;Cisneros-Montemayor et al. 2019) may also improve management outcomes, but further work is needed in this area. ...
Examining fishing pressure in under-resourced marine regions still presents a challenge to understanding patterns of fishing pressure. These issues are compounded in areas with complex marine zoning regulations or those that have changed over time. Satellite-based positioning tracking of fishing vessels has helped identify ocean-wide fishing effort distribution and potential encroachments into marine protected areas (MPAs). However, it is less well known what determines fishing at smaller scales, especially within MPAs where fishing may not be allowed. Here, we use satellite-based fishing vessel positioning to study industrial fishing effort around the Galapagos Marine Reserve, inside the Insular Exclusive Economic Zone of Ecuador (I-EEZ). The region has areas that are open to all fishing, closed to fishing (no-take), open to any fishing except with the use of longline, or (within the Galapagos Marine Reserve) only open to artisanal fishing vessels. From 2019-2023, we identified 145 large, industrial (non-artisanal) fishing vessels (910 gross tonnage on average) from 10 countries fishing within the I-EEZ around the Galapagos. However, 87% of the fishing effort was accounted for by Ecuadorian vessels using tuna purse seines and drifting longlines in equal proportions, while the effort of foreign vessels was accounted for by tuna purse seines. In this time window, we observed 64,626 hours of fishing within the I-EEZ with less than 1% of fishing occurring within the Galapagos Marine Reserve. In addition, we studied the effect of a newly declared MPA in 2022, known as the Hermandad Marine Reserve, which created an additional 60,000 square kilometers of protected area. Half of the new marine reserve is fully protected with no extractive activities allowed with the other half banning long line fishing. We documented an 88% decrease in fishing effort within the Hermandad Marine Reserve after its implementation. There appeared to be a small increase in effort leading up to the reserve’s implementation, but no shift in fishing effort distribution elsewhere after. Collectively, our results highlight the wide range of fishing activities within and around an important marine protected area, especially for migratory marine megafauna. Our findings have important implications for other zoned marine areas given the diversity of fishing activity in different regions within our study area.
... An important note of context is that this area of the Upper Gulf is home to the endemic and critically endangered vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus), and conservation efforts have for decades struggled to find meaningful alternatives to gillnet fisheries which represent the primary threat to vaquita [41]. Both the government and local fishers quickly became enthusiastic about the newfound jellyfish resource in the Upper Gulf and invested considerably in equipment and infrastructure in preparation for the 2013 season. ...
... Indeed, like jellyfish, it would appear that totoaba (and concomitantly vaquita) are also victims of the aforementioned 'roving bandits' [58,61,63]. Despite numerous programs to ban gillnets in the vaquita's range, efforts have proven unsuccessful, and illegal fishing for totoaba continues [41,[64][65][66]. The conservation of vaquita has failed for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the exclusion of fishers from designing conservation measures [41,67,68]. ...
... Despite numerous programs to ban gillnets in the vaquita's range, efforts have proven unsuccessful, and illegal fishing for totoaba continues [41,[64][65][66]. The conservation of vaquita has failed for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the exclusion of fishers from designing conservation measures [41,67,68]. Indeed, there are even attempts afoot to delist totoaba from the endangered list in order to expand gillnetting [69]. ...
The trajectory of the cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus sp. 2) fishery in the central portion of Mexico’s Gulf of California is an all too familiar one, consisting of exploration, rapid development, and, as of now, subsequent collapse. As all of the product is exported to markets overseas, buyers have little incentive to conserve local stocks, with jellyfish now exhibiting a global-scale sequential exploitation experienced by many other marine resources. While historical data gaps are often used as excuses for overexploitation after the fact, the emergence of this modern fishery was accompanied by relatively broad research interest; however, recommendations based on sound science were not followed. The resultant paucity of policy goals, regulation, cooperation, compliance, and enforcement has resulted in the mismanagement of a potentially lucrative fishery for future generations. There are always myriad challenges when attempting to manage a nascent fishery with high uncertainty, particularly in a developing country, and this case further highlights the importance of taking a precautionary approach to emerging resource extraction. Multiple prior experiences with similar outcomes should behoove regulators and managers to exhibit extra caution, and yet, sustainability and forethought still appear to be secondary to short-term profits and employment support. Nonetheless, it is perhaps not too late for cannonball jellyfish fisheries in the Gulf of California, and there are opportunities to implement management strategies that promote collaboration, research, and sustainability. This fishery requires a new management regime that embraces adaptive co-management in order to provide benefits to locals, both now and in the future.
... Most of the snapper species targeted or captured as bycatch in the deepwater fisheries of the MAR are described as data deficient or least concern by the IUCN, while several groupers and some elasmobranchs range from near threatened to critically endangered (www.iucnredlist.org). The long-term success of a management or conservation plan is largely dependent upon support from stakeholders -the direct and indirect users of resources -such as fishers and their communities (Alexander et al., 2020;Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent, 2016;Drew, 2005;Heyman and Graham, 2000a, 2000b, 2000cJohannes, 1982;King et al., 2001). International support and involvement can directly support data collection methods and scientific investigations, but often these gains in knowledge can be short-term when local capacities have not been established (Salas et al., 2007). ...
Deepwater fisheries in the Caribbean waters of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras are currently unmanaged, and there is very little monitoring of fishery landings. Increasing demand for high quality fish has led to the continued expansion of coastal fisheries into deeper waters in the region over several decades. The deepwater fisheries of the MesoAmerican Region are mostly small-scale, but they target species that are likely vulnerable to overexploitation due to conservative life history characteristics common to deepwater fish, including slow growth, late maturity, and low natural mortality. A total of 122 deepwater fishers from Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras were interviewed to assess their perceptions on the status and future of deepwater fisheries, its history, current trends and prices. Deepwater fisheries in the region were mostly likely established in the 1970's, though outside of Belize fishers reported a longer perceived timeline. Fishers in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras mostly targeted snapper species, including silk (Lutjanus vivanus), blackfin (L. buccanella), wenchman/cardinal snapper (Pristipomoides spp.), queen (Etelis oculatus), vermillion (Rhomboplites aurorubens), and black (Apsilus dentatus) snappers while those in Guatemala targeted mainly sharks (mostly smoothhounds (Mustelus spp.), gulpers (Centrophorus spp.), sixgills (Hexanchus spp.), night sharks (Carcharhinus signatus), and dogfishes (Squalus spp.)) and groupers (mostly yellowedge (Hyporthodus flavolimbatus) and misty groupers (H. mystacinus)). Fishers largely sold directly to consumers, whether individuals, restaurants, or fish markets, and Honduras is currently the only country with a strong export market for deepwater fishes. As coastal fisheries continue to decline, and access to depth sounders and GPS becomes ubiquitous, fishing effort in these fisheries is expected to continue to increase.
... A number of governmental policies and programs have been enacted in the UGC to protect vaquita from gillnets (see reviews in Rojas-Bracho et al., 2006;Bobadilla et al., 2011;Rojas-Bracho and Reeves, 2013;Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent, 2016). Despite these efforts, the region continues to experience widespread illegal fishing with gillnets, loss of income and markets for legal fishers, and the continued decline of the vaquita population (Comité Internacional para la Recuperación de la Vaquita 2021). ...
... This article contends that resolving protected species bycatch in small scale fisheries requires addressing underlying issues of fisheries management and governance and, equally crucially, in finding viable alternative methods of fishing and economic activities for local communities. In the case of vaquita, the need for a multifaceted approach has been championed by the international vaquita recovery team since its inception (Comité Internacional para la Recuperación de la Vaquita [CIRVA], 1997[CIRVA], , 2014[CIRVA], , 2019, recommended by international organizations (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2018; International Whaling Commission [IWC], 2019; International Union for the Conservation of Nature [IUCN], 2020b), scientists (Rojas-Bracho et al., 2006;Bobadilla et al., 2011;Rojas-Bracho and Reeves, 2013;Aburto-Oropeza et al., 2016;Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent, 2016;Aceves-Bueno et al., 2020), and recognized in the policies of the Government of Mexico. However, enacted policies failed to fully embrace the long-term investment necessary for successful community engagement and economic development that can generate buy-in and improve compliance by providing lasting benefits. ...
... A broad range of problems threaten the long-term sustainability of the region's fisheries resources and biodiversity, including the population trends for vaquita and totoaba (Rojas-Bracho and Reeves, 2013;Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent, 2016;Cisneros-Mata, 2020). The complex socioecological context, and a host of underlying institutional deficiencies at multiple levels, hinder efforts to implement more sustainable practices. ...
The Upper Gulf of California is a diverse and highly productive ecosystem supporting some of the most important fisheries in Mexico, yet a history of weak fisheries management and illegal fishing threaten the area’s biodiversity and undermine human well-being in the communities along its shores. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is endemic to these waters and is on the brink of extinction due to incidental entanglement in gillnets used by small-scale fishers. The resurgence of an illegal gillnet fishery for totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), whose swim bladders are highly prized in Hong Kong and continental China, has accelerated the steep decline of the vaquita population. Vaquita is one of a growing number of cases linking illegal wildlife trade, organized crime, and biodiversity decline. This paper provides a summary of key reflections of a panel of fisheries economists gathered at the ninth forum of the North American Association of Fisheries Economists (NAAFE) to evaluate the policies implemented in the Upper Gulf through an economic lens and updated to reflect more recent developments. The panel recognized that poor fisheries management, lack of effective enforcement, distant demand for an illegal product, corruption, and few viable economic alternatives confound efforts to address vaquita bycatch. The complexity of these problems requires a holistic, multidisciplinary approach, combining top-down, direct regulation and bottom-up, participatory and incentive-based instruments. Addressing chronic deficiencies in enforcement, particularly in the very small area where the remaining vaquitas are found, is crucial to prevent imminent extinction. Equally crucial are sustained actions to support legal fishers able to make a good living – with a direct stake in healthy marine ecosystems – as key components of policies to address bycatch and reduce wildlife trafficking. The situation in the Upper Gulf of California is dire, yet similar threats to other marine mammals and wildlife trafficked species may benefit from the experience of the vaquita.
... And, researchers urgently need to develop methods to engage with community members involved in illegal activities. Our case studies demonstrate the dramatic negative consequences that the absence of participation can have on compliance and the development of sustainable fishing practices (Poot-Salazar et al. 2015;Cisneros-Montemayor & Vincent 2016). Such methods have been practiced in the terrestrial realm (e.g. ...
The illegal harvest of marine species within exclusive economic zones can have a strong impact on the function of local ecosystems and livelihoods of coastal communities. The complexity of these problems is often overlooked in the development of solutions, leading to ineffective and sometimes harmful social and environmental outcomes. One‐dimensional, oversimplified perspectives can lead to conservation prescriptions that exacerbate social stressors. This is particularly critical in the case of international illegal trade of endangered, high‐value species, which generate a value chain in which artisanal fishers are the first operational and often the weakest link of an intricate web. We examined 2 illegal fisheries, totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) and sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus and Holothuria floridana), in Mexico. Although these are 2 separate and independent fisheries, important ecological (resource condition, fishery impacts at the ecosystem level) and social (governance, markets) similarities improve understanding of their complexity. Our findings are relevant globally and show the need for interdisciplinary decision‐making groups, community engagement, and the development of demand reduction measures.
... Here the primary drivers for management have been the conservation of the endemic and endangered vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus), the world's most endangered cetacean, and the endemic totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a sciaenid fish that is also endangered. Spatial restrictions to protect these species have limited gillnet fishing by San Felipe and Golfo de Santa Clara fishers, who have received monetary incentives to mitigate the economic impact of restrictions on their fishing grounds (Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent, 2016). Fishers in the Coastal Corridor have witnessed the effects of these failed top-down government strategies that have neither reversed the decline in the population of the vaquita nor addressed the needs of fishers for a viable and sustainable economy Flessa et al., 2019). ...
... The biggest challenge faced during the implementation of this CMSP process was the socio-political context surrounding conservation of the critically endangered vaquita porpoise, in its area of distribution within the Upper and Northern Gulf of California. Multiple approaches including fisheries restrictions have been tried in this region in an attempt to reduce vaquita mortality (Bobadilla et al., 2011;Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent, 2016). An initial two-year ban on gillnet fisheries in the eastern region of Baja California (DOF, 2015) was renewed indefinitely in 2017 (DOF, 2017). ...
... In addition, it is vital to take into consideration the full recognition and integration of political history, social structure and community needs for the formulation of conservation and environmental policy. This requires preparation for open discussions on tradeoffs when win-win situations are not possible, especially when topdown enforcement is unfeasible [64]. We echo Pinkerton's [53] recognition of five conditions that must be met for the Ecuadorian coastal communities to be able to commit to the conservation of living natural resources, including fisheries and marine mammals: 1) Communities must have strong access rights to local marine resources (e.g., poor people or fishers will poach or violate fishery regulations if they cannot benefit from it). ...
Bycatch of marine fauna by small-scale (artisanal) fisheries is an important anthropogenic mortality source to several species of cetaceans, including humpback whales and odontocetes, in Ecuador's marine waters. Long-term monitoring actions and varied conservation efforts have been conducted by non-governmental organizations along the Ecuadorian coast, pointing toward the need for a concerted mitigation plan and actions to hamper cetaceans’ bycatch. Nevertheless, little has currently been done by the government and regional authorities to address marine mammal interactions with fisheries in eastern Pacific Ocean artisanal fisheries. This study provides a review of Ecuador's current status concerning cetacean bycatch, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of past and current programs aiming to tackle the challenges of bycatch mitigation. To bolster our appraisal of the policies, a synthesis of fishers’ perceptions of the bycatch problem is presented in concert with recommendations for fostering fishing community-based conservation practices integrated with policies to mitigate cetacean bycatch. Our appraisal, based upon the existing literature, indicates a situation of increasing urgency. Taking into consideration the fishers’ perceptions and attitudes, fisheries governance in Ecuador should draw inspiration from a truly bottom-up, participatory framework based on stakeholder engagement processes; if it is based on a top-down, regulatory approach, it is less likely to succeed. To carry out this process, a community-based conservation programs to provide conditions for empowering fishing communities is recommend. This would serve as an initial governance framework for fishery policy for conserving marine mammals while maximizing the economic benefits from sustainable small-scale fisheries in Ecuador.
... In addition, it is vital to take into consideration the full recognition and integration of political history, social structure and community needs for the formulation of conservation and environmental policy. This requires preparation for open discussions on tradeoffs when win-win situations are not possible, especially when topdown enforcement is unfeasible [64]. We echo Pinkerton's [53] recognition of five conditions that must be met for the Ecuadorian coastal communities to be able to commit to the conservation of living natural resources, including fisheries and marine mammals: 1) Communities must have strong access rights to local marine resources (e.g., poor people or fishers will poach or violate fishery regulations if they cannot benefit from it). ...
... On the one hand, these preferences can be monetized and channeled toward conservation initiatives in the public sphere (Becker et al., 2009;Lew and Wallmo, 2011;Johnston et al., 2015). The 'flagship species' approach, which involves identification of charismatic and threatened species followed by implementation of conservation programs for the associated ecosystems, rests upon the notion of positive human preferences toward certain wild species (Kontoleon and Swanson, 2003;Belbachir et al., 2015;Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent, 2016). On the other hand, 2 Vijesh V. Krishna et al. human preferences could also lead to species exploitation (Coltman et al., 2003;Wilson-Wilde, 2010). ...
This study examines conservation effects of wildlife trade using demand and supply data from caged-bird markets in Sumatra, Indonesia. When consumers have a strong preference for species rarity, trade could result in wildlife overexploitation and species extinction. Results from a choice experiment show that buyers of caged birds indeed value species rarity. However, not all rare species are equally preferred. Species that are frequently traded lose their rarity value, even if rare in the wild. Analysis of time-series data collected from traders over a period of 20 months between 2013 and 2015 reveals an inelastic supply function for rare species, with market arrivals being insensitive to price changes. This may be due to a declining stock of rare species in the wild. Bird trade together with habitat loss can lead to extinction of a number of rare species in Indonesia. Several policy approaches on regulating caged-bird markets are discussed.
... By dictionary definition, "the geographical future" is a place, landscape or Region without objects. During AD 2012, the USA and Mexico concluded a bilateral agreement to restore the Colorado River Delta [11][12]. This enshrined international concord typifies the stale-minded thinking ever-present in the two-international border-separated political and academic conversational circles, unfortunately hosted by somewhat confused and ill-informed Californians and Mexicans, focused upon the extant disgusting, horrendously low-environmental sustainability status so-called Salton Sea. ...
p>The macroproject proposed, encompassing the arid Southwest of the USA and northern Mexico, has the potential to more than pay for itself. If a radical volumetric enlargement were competently completed by correctly educated advocates of Macro-Imagineering, supplemented by geothermal power-plants, it could make benign an over-polluted aquatic “monster” — the present-day stagnant and putrid Salton Sea — through induced importation of diluting Gulf of California saltwater resulting in rapid areal increase of the inanimate “creature”, converting it from its presently degraded smelly status to an amply beneficial condition as an anthropogenic extension of Mexico’s Gulf of California! Formation by Macro-Engineering means of a sustainable human development around and thereon can result in profitable voluminous desalinated seawater exportation from the State ofCaliforniato adjacentArizona,Nevadaand nearbyUtahas well asMexicobordering theUSA’s Southwest. The key infrastructure permitting these developments is a centralized multi-segment photovoltaic-powered desalination factory resting atop named Introduction floating artificial islands covering most of a deliberately enlarged and robotized Salton Sea. A particular macroproject proposed, the Southwest Water Alliance Project (SWAP), is fashioned somewhat after NEOM, an announced ecopolis, but still structurally unspecified robot megacity, scheduled to be built in northern Saudi Arabia connected by a yet-to-be-constructed fixed sea-strait crossing linking Tabuk, Saudi Arabia to Sharm el-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula of bordering Egypt.
Key words: Seawater desalination, floating photovoltaic platforms, arid Southwest USA and Mexico development, Macro-Imagineering, Macro-Engineering.
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O macroprojeto proposto, abrangendo o árido sudoeste dos EUA e norte do México, tem potencial para mais do que pagar por si mesmo. Se um aumento volumétrico radical fosse conduzido por defensores competentes da Macro-Imagineering, suplementado por usinas de energia geotérmica, seria possível tornar benigno um "monstro" aquático extremamente poluído — o atual e estagnado Mar de Salton — por meio de importações induzidas de água salgada diluente do Golfo da Califórnia, resultando em um rápido aumento de área da "criatura" inanimada, resgatando-a de seu estado atual degradado como uma extensão antropogênica do Golfo da Califórnia! Por meio da Macroengenharia é possível conduzir um desenvolvimento humano sustentável e lucrativo capaz de garantir uma expressiva exportação de água do mar dessalinizada do estado da Califórnia para os adjacentes Arizona, Nevada e Utah, além do México na fronteira com o sudoeste dos EUA. A principal infraestrutura que permite esse desenvolvimento é uma fábrica centralizada para dessalinização multissegmento baseada em energia fotovoltaica, formada por ilhas artificiais flutuantes que cobririam a maior parte do Mar de Salton em um sistema ampliado e robotizado. Em particular, um macroprojeto semelhante proposto é o Southwest Water Alliance Project (SWAP) — criado um pouco depois do NEOM —, uma ecópolis anunciada, megacidade robótica estruturalmente ainda não especificada, programada para ser construída no norte da Arábia Saudita, conectada por uma passagem estreita ligando Tabuk, na Arábia Saudita, a Sharm el-Sheikh, na Península do Sinai (fronteira com o Egito).
Palavras-chave: Dessalinização da água do mar, plataformas fotovoltaicas flutuantes, desenvolvimento do sudoeste dos EUA e do México, Macroengenharia.
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