The Conservation-Exploitation Paradox in a Mexican Coral Reef Protected Area

摘要

The Mexico Veracruz reef system was recently declared a natural protected area. One of the most important users of this area (52,239 ha) are fishermen whose extractive activity conflicts with conservation goals. At least a thousand families depend directly on the artisanal fishery in the area, while others depend indirectly. With the objective of finding an adequate balance between exploitation and conservation offish resources, an annual study was performed, evaluating biological, economical, and social aspects. The results showed that climatic conditions were favorable for fish only 230 d per year. A diversity of 89 finfish, 4 sharks, 2 rays, 1 lobster, and 2 octopus species were fished by 18 varieties of nets, lines, and harpoons. The catch per unit effort fluctuated between 4 and 344 kg/fishermen/d, with fishermen spending from 2 to 24 h per fishing trips, and the daily profit varied between US$2 to US$40 per fisherman. The regulations for a sustainable use of the resources are inefficient dueto the scarce basic information on the dynamics of the species and the multispecies nature of the fishery making integrated management difficult. In general, artisanal fishing is not a profitable activity such that it is necessary to promote an aggregated value for fishing products. Fishermen participation in resource conservation will be viable only if the quality of their lives is increased. In this sense, octopus culture is proposed as an option to reduce the fishing effort on the reefs and to promote socioeconomic development in the fishing communities.