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Fisheries assessment within the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem
Environmental Development (xxxx) xxxx–xxxx
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Fisheries assessment within the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem ⁎
Lourdes Jiménez-Badillo , Gabriela Galindo-Cortes, César Meiners-Mandujano Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Pesquerías, Universidad Veracruzana, Hidalgo 617, Col. Rio Jamapa, 94290 Boca del Rio, Veracruz, Mexico
A R T I C L E I N F O
ABSTRACT
Keywords: Gulf of Mexico fisheries Tuna Shrimp Striped and white mullets Shark and skates Snook Fisheries ecosystem approach
The status of main fisheries along the Mexican portion of the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem (GoM-LME) was assessed considering the resources’ most relevant aspects, the fisheries fleet, the fisheries market and the problems that they currently face, with the aim of increasing the stakeholders knowledge, to move towards the implementation of an ecosystem management approach in the region. Several recommendations are made for improving the recovery and sustainability of GoM-LME fisheries. With regard to the tuna fishery, the fishery status is completely exploited. Northern brown shrimp and Atlantic seabob fisheries are within the maximum sustainable yield level, whereas the status of northern pink, red-spotted shrimp and brown rock shrimp fisheries are considered as deteriorated. Striped and white mullet fisheries are completely exploited as well as that of shark and skates. The snook fishery is exploited to the maximum sustainable level. Several initiatives are presented based on an ecosystem approach that has been generated to reinforce traditional management plans in order to avoid further deterioration of these resources. Some economic alternatives are identified to increase the profitability of the fisheries of the GoM-LME along the Mexican coast.
1. Introduction Aquatic ecosystems are still being degraded as a consequence of human activities, thus affecting the capacity of ecosystems to provide important goods and services including food security from fisheries. Among other aspects, this has impacted marine resources of commercial relevance, which are decreased in several parts of the world (Defeo, 2015). Fisheries degradation, already acknowledged by several authors worldwide (Pauly et al., 1998; Hutchings and Reynolds, 2004; Caddy and Seijo, 2005, Salas, et. al. 2007), undermines the availability of a highly-demanded food by a constantly growing population as well as the survival of fishing communities as their economy is based on this activity. The relative scarcity of the fishery resource plays a fundamental role in the value chain, which is defined by the following components: production, promotion, marketing and consuming, and the interactions between them to produce a good or service (Porter, 1985). As fishing is a renewable natural resource that can't be extracted without limitation, the treatment of its value chain must be particularly careful because of the removal effect that may have on resources. Therefore, it is necessary to maximize the value of each unit extracted (Galarza and Kamiche, 2015). Following this reasoning, it is necessary to transform the fishery resources into goods that can be bought by different types of consumers (Scheffczyk, 2008). To do so, artisanal fishermen require training and infrastructure that allow them to increase the value of the extracted resources and the empowerment to change their perception of
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Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Jiménez-Badillo).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2017.01.002 Received 25 August 2016; Received in revised form 20 December 2016; Accepted 9 January 2017 2211-4645/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Jiménez-Badillo, L., Environmental Development (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2017.01.002
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marginalization to small business. The fishermen cooperatives must have working capital, covering operating costs and moreover generating a surplus that allows investment in infrastructure improvements and expanded services. In the past, the Mexican government implemented some programs to promote fish processing and added value, but with less success than expected, probably because they were isolated actions, sidestepping the whole value chain, without proper training for fishermen, nor action follow-up and without taking into account the real needs of fishermen. However, since the recent socialization of public policy aid fisheries instruments with the productive sector, there is openness and willingness of the authorities and fishermen to work together including the academic sector. The wide range of multisectoral factors supporting fisheries development leads to the need for addressing its assessment and management from an ecosystems approach. Based on this focusing, the appropriate balance between conservation and utilization of biological diversity must be assured. Among the types of information to be taken into account are the knowledge, innovations and practices of scientific, indigenous and local communities, engaged in multiple sectors. This demands that adjustments are to be made regarding institutional and government regulations assuring a well-founded, balanced and clear decision making process regarding the balance and participation of all stakeholders (Guerrero et. al., 2006). This work provides an analysis of the status kept by some of the main fisheries along the Mexican area within the GoM-LME, pointing out both issues and initiatives suggested to avoid further degradation while increasing their profitability. 2. Materials and methods The Gulf of Mexico's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) comprises the belt of 200 nautical miles characterized by an extensive continental shelf possessing the biogeographical conditions favoring a wide diversity of habitats within which a high variety of marine fauna coexists. A bibliographic review was carried out in order to establish the status of fisheries along the Mexican area in the GoM-LME, supported by a query of historical records regarding the reported fishery statistics contained in official sources, including the interaction established by the authors of this work with the fishing sector through implementation of joint projects, field work, workshops, and meetings. In the case of tuna, shrimp and sharks and rays fisheries the current status was obtained from the National Fisheries Chart (DOF, 2012). If the required information was available, sustainable catch levels were estimated using the annual commercial catch series reported from 1986 to 2011 as input data. The latter was applied to striped and white mullets and snook resources. In order to estimate the maximum sustainable catch yield (MSCY), the analytical approach proposed by Martell and Froese (2012) was applied for fisheries characterized by a scarce amount of data. Such an approach applies a simple method to calculate MSCY based on Schaefer's surplus production model (1954). Results are presented in graphics in the form of phase plots to enable a practical understanding about overfishing warning (light gray), major concern status (dark gray) and 95% confidence interval for each MSCY estimation per fishery resource in their respective fishing areas. From the fishery status analysis, the management efforts pursued by the Mexican authorities regarding fishery issues, and from the new trends for fishery resources management worldwide, some proposals presented are intended to contribute to enhance fishery profitability as well as reduce their level of degradation. 3. Results and discussion Fishing represents one of the main economic activities being developed in Mexico. During recent years, fishing production at the national level has been kept at approximately 1.6 million tons per year, generating $ 19.9 billion Mexican pesos. An average of 217 thousand tons are produced in the Gulf of Mexico, which is 13.6% of the total volume per year, representing an income of about $ 4.6 billion Mexican pesos (CONAPESCA, 2013). According to Díaz de León and collaborators (2001), there are 264 potentially exploitable species within this region and Fernandez and collaborators (2011) report the existence of 2 molluscs cephalopods, 7 crustaceans, 21 fish, 18 sharks and rays as target species. However, catch volumes are focused on 46 species and the highest economic value is concentrated on 7 species (Fig. 1). The 5 fisheries possessing higher relevance in the region, either because of their volume and/or value or their demand in the market, are presented below (dark gray in Fig. 1). 4. Tuna fishery Tuna fishing constitutes the most autonomous and technologically-aided fishing activity developed in the Mexican EEZ in the Gulf of Mexico. This is exclusively carried out using 50–60 km longlines and an average of 673 hooks. Target species is Thunnus albacares (yellowfin tuna), representing approximately 67% of total catch, incidentally, swordfish (14%), other fishes (10%), sharks (4%) and other tuna species (5%) are also caught (DOF 2015). There is an increasing catch trend from 1988 to 2016 reporting 1098 t in 2013. Veracruz contributes with 96% of this production through landings at the Tuxpam port (Fig. 2). A perfectly systemized Observer On-board Program was implemented, allowing a timely tracking of this activity. As tuna species are considered straddling stocks, the decisions regarding their management are made within the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and Mexico is represented by the National Fishing Institute (NFI), which is the institution in Mexico responsible for planning and conducting scientific research regarding fishing and aquaculture. According to the Federation's Official Journal (DOF, from its abbreviation in Spanish) (2012), that publishes the National Fishing Chart, tuna fishery status in the Atlantic Ocean is 2
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Fig. 1. Annual mean catch (bars+SD) and annual mean value (lines+SD) of main commercial fisheries along the Mexican area within the GoM-LME during 2009– 2013. In dark gray species object of this study. Data source: CONAPESCA (2009–2013).
completely exploited and a reference point of 1136 t is estimated. Nevertheless, the quality of the product extracted in the Mexican area has allowed its positioning in the international market, specifically in the U.S. Consequently, although it is not possible to increase the fishing effort and the catches, it is possible to increase the financial gain by entering in new markets as direct suppliers (avoiding the brokers), thus the promotion of its international certification by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may represent the trigger in order to improve economic activity. This is very important because the certification permit allows for the export of first class tuna to the U.S market directly, instead of selling this product at a lower price to international brokers. 5. Shrimp fishery Six commercial shrimp species are caught within the Mexican area of the GoM-LME: northern brown shrimp (Farfantepeneus aztecus), white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus), Atlantic seabob (Xiphopenaeus kroyeri), northern pink shrimp (F. duorarum), redspotted shrimp (F. brasiliensis) and brown rock shrimp (Sicyonia brevirostris). Northern brown shrimp is the most widely distributed across the coastline, from Tamaulipas to Campeche states. The Atlantic seabob is distributed in Tabasco and Campeche states, whereas northern pink shrimp is basically in the Bank of Campeche and both red-spotted and brown rock shrimps are in Quintana Roo state. Right in front of Tabasco and Campeche coasts there is a fishing restricted area because of oil extraction activities, which represents an area of constant conflict between both economic activities. Northern brown shrimp fishery is sequential, i.e. it is a shared resource between artisanal fishery, which extracts the juvenile stage, and the industrial counterpart, extracting the adult stage. They both sum up an annual average from 1988 to 2013 of 12,500 t. From 2011, a considerable decrease was observed down to 9650 t. The DOF (2012) establishes that this fishery is exploited to the maximum sustainable level. Similarly, the Atlantic seabob fishery, which is completely an artisanal fishery, reports an annual production of approximately 1500 t. The Northern pink, red-spotted and brown rock shrimps industrial fisheries are currently in a degraded status (DOF, 2012), presenting a 2000 and 150 t per fishery as are shown in Fig. 3. The reference points for each fishery according to DOF (2012) as well as the issues they face are presented in Table 1. The closed season systemization process for northern brown shrimp, with fluctuating periods and differentials for coastal and open sea fisheries between full and new moon (from May to July for coastal fishery and until August for open sea fishery) that have been established by the NFI for lagoon systems from 1993 to this date has provided for stable catch levels in the latter systems and it
Fig. 2. Historic tuna production in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME, including Veracruz state contribution. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013) and DOF (2015)
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Fig. 3. Shrimp historic production in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME and fisheries status. Data source: (DOF, 2014c)
Table 1 Features, reference points and issues faced by shrimp fisheries in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME.
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Fig. 4. Phase plots of sustainable catch level estimations for striped and white mullet fisheries in the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas. Light gray = overfishing warning; dark gray = major concern status; dotted lines = upper and lower limits of maximum sustainable catch. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013) and DOF (2014a)
has enabled recruit migration towards the sea while displaying positive results in order to achieve the population's replenishment (DOF, 2014c). Nonetheless, discards are still one of the main issues linked to this fishery requiring immediate attention. In this regard, the generation of fishery management models based on the ecosystem approach is primary. An ecosystems management model for shrimp fishery is currently ongoing at Veracruz south-center (Morán, 2016). On the other hand, artisanal fishery infrastructure is required to improve shrimp preservation and processing in order to promote its commercialization under new presentations and in different markets. 6. Striped and white mullet fisheries Striped (Mugil cephalus) and white (M. curema) mullets are sympatric resources sharing the same habitat while keeping reproductive isolation. They are very valued along the Gulf of Mexico coast. During the last 7 years, their catch volumes average 4762 and 4417 t, respectively. The National Fishing Chart (2012) establishes that these fisheries are completely exploited and it defines as reference points 3017 t for striped mullet and 4665 t for white mullet. Striped mullet population is highly vulnerable during its reproductive season (March-April, November-December) as its eggs are highly valued exceeding the market value of meat, thus its commercialization in this stage is elevated. It is important to diversify the product presentations to fillet, cooked, dried-salted and its gizzards and male gonads. The breeding areas for these two species have been altered due to a change of land utilization leading to recruitment alterations. According to the MSCY estimated in this study, striped mullet is characterized by fluctuating levels within the sustainable range in Tamaulipas, whereas white mullet is maintained at risk levels. The reverse situation occurs in Veracruz, where striped mullet is at risk since 2001 whereas white mullet fluctuates within the lower limits of maximum sustainable catch (Fig. 4). Actions need to be implemented in order to protect the full life-cycle of both species. 7. Shark and skate fisheries CONAPESCA (2013) reported the existence of 54 shark species and 41 skate species, of which 9 of the former (Rizoprionodon terraenovae, Carcharhinus acronotus, Sphyrna tiburo, Carcharhinus limbatus, Sphyrna lewini, Carcharhinus leucas, Carcharhinus falciformis, Carcharhinus fbrevipina, Carcharhinus porosus) and 5 of the latter (Aetobatus narinari, Rhinoptera bonasus, Dasyatis americana, Dasyatis centroura, Himantura schmardae) are commercially relevant, whereas 3 shark species are endangered according to CITES list (S. lewini, S. mokarran and S. zygaena). It is important to note that R. terranovae represents around 60–75% of total catch along this area, and only one CITES species (S. lewini) is commercially relevant, representing less than 5% of total commercial catch in number, mainly along the Campeche coast (Zea et. al., 2016). Some shark species caught are derived from incidental catch during the tuna fishery. CONAPESCA (2013) reports the existence of 332 permits for shark and skate catching, from 34 medium-size vessels and 1681 small-scale boats operating along the Gulf of 5
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Fig. 5. Shark and skate historical catch (1975–2013) in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013).
Mexico coastline. Catch levels show a decreasing trend between 1997 and 2008, with recovery signs from that period to this date reaching 3800 t for skates and 4100 t for sharks per year (DOF, 2012) (Fig. 5). Reference points are referred to in the National Fishing Chart (DOF, 2012) as 6026 and 2887 t for sharks and skates, respectively. Thus these fisheries are classified as completely exploited. These resources represent an attention focus due their high vulnerability because they are long-lived, slow-growing, with low-fertility and late-maturity fishery resources as approximately 50% of the catch is comprised of immature organisms. This fishery profitability is low, although a high potential exists for product and subproduct development that requires training, technology transfer and infrastructure establishment for processing.
8. Snook fishery Snook is a species characterized by the high quality of its meat. Its fishery is based on three species, Centropomus undecimalis, C. poeyi and C. parallelus, which are among those yielding a higher economic income due to their elevated value in the market. This fishery is developed in Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche states by 8013 fishermen operating 3508 boats and reporting catch volumes of approximately 7000 t (CONAPESCA, 2013). This catch takes place in rivers, estuaries and lagoon systems, including Laguna Madre, Pueblo Viejo, Tamiahua-Tampamachoco, Alvarado, Coatzacoalcos, Carmen-Machona and Laguna de Términos. All stages are vulnerable, mainly during the reproductive season leading to recruitment overfishing. The National Fishing Chart (2012) established that reference points per state are 2300 t for Tabasco, 2100 for Campeche, 1500 t for Veracruz and 100 t for Tamaulipas, indicating that this fishery is exploited to its maximum sustainable level. According to our analysis, the estimated sustainable catch levels for Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche during 2008–2011 are within the acceptable range, after a marked period of overfishing warning in Campeche and Tabasco (Fig. 6). According to the previous analysis, the biomass obtained by fishing activity has no more growth margin, hence the available biomass must be preserved in order to contribute to food safety and the economic incomes. The use of this biomass must be optimized with actions tending to enhance the value of the commercial chain, such as: 1) promoting the product concentration for seeking better bargaining power in marketing; 2) designing new products and subproducts to open new markets; 3) generating new brands to recognize the wild catch under responsible fishing criteria; 4) implementing a traceability process to give certainty and confidence for customers; 5) promoting financial incentives for fishermen who contribute with conservation of fishery resources; 6) setting advertising campaigns to increase regional fish consumption in several presentations; 7) promoting fish production with sanitary conditions, from extraction, processing, commercialization until reaching the consumer; and 8) producing high quality products with accessible prices to diverse customers. To do this, capacity building, training, working capital, technology transfer and infrastructure for preservation and processing should be improved. A collaborative work between government, academic and productive sectors could lead to improved capacity building of organizations, administration, accounting, health and safety, quality control, traceability, marketing, environmental conservation and processing technology. The government support programs must invest in port infrastructure and services (docks, gathering center, ice maker, cold chain, processing plants) to fishing communities instead of the current individual support to acquire engines and boats, which results in limited impact. A seed capital to work could be assigned to fishermen's organizations committed to the conservation of fishery resources as an incentive. Also it is important to facilitate and spread cooperation channels between potential strategic partners who are interested to invest or trade. The training and raising awareness about the importance of responsible fishing and of the fisherman's role as manager of the resource is essential for conservation by their own conviction according to MarViva (2014). Since small-scale fisheries are highly variable on the temporal scale, the optimization of the activity has to be in accord with the dynamic of the resource, generating the highest possible value of each unit captured (Galarza and Kamiche, 2015), instead of fishing every day with low catches and scarce profits. The challenge is to introject in the fisherman a business vision, articulate the extraction with the market and produce quality and competitive products to get higher profits. From this, subsistence fishing could be converted into small enterprises with the consequent quality increase of life for fishermen. The intention is to focus the fishing effort in specific seasons and/or locations according to species to allow the recovery of the stock the rest of the year. To do so, the processing plants must be enabled to process different species and products during the year avoiding unique species to be profitable. This involves the effective incorporation of criteria for environmental and social responsibility which differentiate the product and make it competitive in the country’s markets according to MarViva (2014). 6
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Fig. 6. Phase plots of sustainable catch level estimations for snook fishery in the Mexican states of Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche. Light gray = overfishing warning; dark gray = major concern status; dotted lines = upper and lower limits of maximum sustainable catch. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013) and DOF (2014b).
On the other hand, the traditional management plan for all the described fisheries is focused on the regulation of inputs and outputs. The existing legislation is based on the control of minimal catch size, the establishment of closed seasons in order to protect the adult or the breeding stages, technical specifications establishment for fishing systems and gear and restricting the number of fishing permits and boats. Nevertheless, the diversity of environmental, ecologic, economic, social and legal factors depending on this activity require the consideration of a comprehensive multidisciplinary management as a mechanism to avoid degradation of the resources. In this regard, the Mexican government has invested human and economic resources to generate regulation programs and management plans for these fisheries (DOF, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2015) envisaging relevant actions. An important effort has to be initiated in order to move towards the ecosystem approach to management in the region. The success in implementing the ecosystem approach depends largely on the inclusion of all users and reconciling the perspectives and objectives of each of the parties (Ramos et al., 2013), therefore, to work on agreed upon management objectives that represent the interests of all sectors is indispensable. According to Defeo (2015) it is important to work on a hierarchy of ecological and social objectives, including general objectives of national policy and work through operational objectives. The regulation programs of the fisheries here studied have objectives agreed by governmental, productive and academic sectors. Ramos and collaborators (2013) note the lack of ecosystem indices that can be articulated to support fisheries management. Hence, it is necessary to generate biological, ecological, economic and social indicators to assess the current status of fisheries and the ecosystem approach to management, including monitoring of changes to support follow up actions. According to Defeo (2015), the internal organization and social cohesion as well as property rights of fishing communities and co-management responsibilities contribute to achieve the ecosystem approach. These actions should be promoted in the GoM-LME. Special attention has to be focused on multidisciplinary research to fill information gaps. According to FAO (2011) measuring the effect of different individual factors is time consuming and costly and also difficult to interpret given the scope of an ecosystem. In that regard, the own-price index on supply elasticity is an important metric. The cross-price supply elasticities can be used to account for other anthropogenic effects on the ecosystem as well. So, a trend in supply elasticity estimates over time will provide an indicator of stock abundance change and its related ecosystem health, which can be used by managers to improve the quality of life of participants in the fisheries and the industries they are dependent upon. A proactive governance regime where fishermen are legally represented in a strategic multisectoral framework is something necessary (Defeo, 2015). There is also a need to develop the mechanisms for social participation in the decision-making and possibly the implementation of multidisciplinary long term research and management programs (Fernández et. al., 2011). In this regard, fisheries management in Mexico still lacks a long-term plan, because the fisheries plans are updated every six years and usually change in approaches and emphasis (Fernández et. al., 2011) so that, this represents a constraint. However, if producers, scientists and stakeholders support fishery management plans and regulation programs recently created, and they promote its implementation, it could be the beginning of a long-term plan. 7
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9. Conclusions Fisheries worldwide face a degraded condition and those developed in the Gulf of Mexico are no exception. Estimations of available biomass are necessary for all resources as well as their interaction with the environmental variability, in order to be compared with the established reference points and thus enabling the monitoring of their performance. The present analysis points out that is not practical to expect a biomass increase. The most feasible approach is to increase the fisheries’ values through promotion and/or diversification of the products as well as the opening of new markets. In order to do so, it is mandatory to develop periodic assessments possessing an economic dimension that includes both fishing products and subproducts. Furthermore, it is essential to implement multidisciplinary actions within a framework of an ecosystems approach that includes the regulation programs and management plans generated for each fishery with appropriate consideration of the participation of the productive, academic and government sectors, thus assuring its adoption. 10. Financing This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. References Caddy, J., Seijo, J.C., 2005. This is more difficult than we thought! The responsibility of scientists, managers and stakeholders to mitigate the unsustainability of marine fisheries. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 360, 59–75. CONAPESCA, 2013. Anuario Estadístico de Acuacultura y Pesca 2013. Dirección General de Planeación Programación y Evaluación. Comisión Nacional de Pesca y Acuacultura. Mexico. p. 295. Defeo, O., 2015. 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Acuerdo por el que se da a conocer el Plan de manejo pesquero de camarón café (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) y camarón blanco (Litopenaeus setiferus) en las costas de Tamaulipas y Veracruz. México D. F., miércoles 12 de marzo. Diario Oficial de la Federación, 2015. Acuerdo por el que se da a conocer el plan de manejo pesquero de atún aleta amarilla (Thunnus albacares) en el Golfo de México. México D. F., lunes 11 de mayo. FAO, 2011. Report of the expert workshop on the development and use of indicators for an ecosystem approach to fisheries. EAF-Nansen Project Report No. 7. Rome 20–24 april 2009. p. 57. Fernández, J.I., Álvarez, T.P., Arreguín, S.F., López, L.G., Ponce, G., Díaz de León, A., Arcos, H.E., del Monte, L.P., 2011. Coastal fisheries of Mexico. In: Salas, S., Chuenpagdee, R., Charles, A., Seijo, J.C. (Eds.), Coastal fisheries of Latin America and the Caribbean. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper. No. 544. Rome. pp. 231–284. Galarza, E. and Kamiche, J. 2015. Pesca artesanal: oportunidades para el desarrollo regional. Documento de investigación 3. Universidad del Pacífico. Lima, Perú. 120 p Guerrero, E., Keizer, O., Córdoba, R. (Eds.), 2006. La aplicación del enfoque ecosistémico en la gestión de los recursos hídricos. PNUMA. UICN. p. 71. Hutchings, J., Reynolds, J., 2004. Marine fish population collapses: conse- quences for recovery and extinction risk. BioScience 54 (4), 297–309. Martell, S., Froese, R., 2012. A simple method for estimating MSY from catch and resilience. Fish. Fish. 14 (4), 504–514. MarViva, 2014. Construcción de cadenas de valor en pesca. Alternativas productivas. Comercialización responsable de pescado. Fundación Marviva, Colombia, Panamá, Costa Rica, 12. Morán, S.A., 2016. Evaluación integral de la pesquería del camarón en la porción centro-sur del estado de Veracruz (Doctoral thesis). Posgrado en Ecología y Pesquerías. Universidad Veracruzana. Mexico. (In process). 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Fisheries assessment within the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem ⁎
Lourdes Jiménez-Badillo , Gabriela Galindo-Cortes, César Meiners-Mandujano Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Pesquerías, Universidad Veracruzana, Hidalgo 617, Col. Rio Jamapa, 94290 Boca del Rio, Veracruz, Mexico
A R T I C L E I N F O
ABSTRACT
Keywords: Gulf of Mexico fisheries Tuna Shrimp Striped and white mullets Shark and skates Snook Fisheries ecosystem approach
The status of main fisheries along the Mexican portion of the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem (GoM-LME) was assessed considering the resources’ most relevant aspects, the fisheries fleet, the fisheries market and the problems that they currently face, with the aim of increasing the stakeholders knowledge, to move towards the implementation of an ecosystem management approach in the region. Several recommendations are made for improving the recovery and sustainability of GoM-LME fisheries. With regard to the tuna fishery, the fishery status is completely exploited. Northern brown shrimp and Atlantic seabob fisheries are within the maximum sustainable yield level, whereas the status of northern pink, red-spotted shrimp and brown rock shrimp fisheries are considered as deteriorated. Striped and white mullet fisheries are completely exploited as well as that of shark and skates. The snook fishery is exploited to the maximum sustainable level. Several initiatives are presented based on an ecosystem approach that has been generated to reinforce traditional management plans in order to avoid further deterioration of these resources. Some economic alternatives are identified to increase the profitability of the fisheries of the GoM-LME along the Mexican coast.
1. Introduction Aquatic ecosystems are still being degraded as a consequence of human activities, thus affecting the capacity of ecosystems to provide important goods and services including food security from fisheries. Among other aspects, this has impacted marine resources of commercial relevance, which are decreased in several parts of the world (Defeo, 2015). Fisheries degradation, already acknowledged by several authors worldwide (Pauly et al., 1998; Hutchings and Reynolds, 2004; Caddy and Seijo, 2005, Salas, et. al. 2007), undermines the availability of a highly-demanded food by a constantly growing population as well as the survival of fishing communities as their economy is based on this activity. The relative scarcity of the fishery resource plays a fundamental role in the value chain, which is defined by the following components: production, promotion, marketing and consuming, and the interactions between them to produce a good or service (Porter, 1985). As fishing is a renewable natural resource that can't be extracted without limitation, the treatment of its value chain must be particularly careful because of the removal effect that may have on resources. Therefore, it is necessary to maximize the value of each unit extracted (Galarza and Kamiche, 2015). Following this reasoning, it is necessary to transform the fishery resources into goods that can be bought by different types of consumers (Scheffczyk, 2008). To do so, artisanal fishermen require training and infrastructure that allow them to increase the value of the extracted resources and the empowerment to change their perception of
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Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Jiménez-Badillo).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2017.01.002 Received 25 August 2016; Received in revised form 20 December 2016; Accepted 9 January 2017 2211-4645/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Jiménez-Badillo, L., Environmental Development (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2017.01.002
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marginalization to small business. The fishermen cooperatives must have working capital, covering operating costs and moreover generating a surplus that allows investment in infrastructure improvements and expanded services. In the past, the Mexican government implemented some programs to promote fish processing and added value, but with less success than expected, probably because they were isolated actions, sidestepping the whole value chain, without proper training for fishermen, nor action follow-up and without taking into account the real needs of fishermen. However, since the recent socialization of public policy aid fisheries instruments with the productive sector, there is openness and willingness of the authorities and fishermen to work together including the academic sector. The wide range of multisectoral factors supporting fisheries development leads to the need for addressing its assessment and management from an ecosystems approach. Based on this focusing, the appropriate balance between conservation and utilization of biological diversity must be assured. Among the types of information to be taken into account are the knowledge, innovations and practices of scientific, indigenous and local communities, engaged in multiple sectors. This demands that adjustments are to be made regarding institutional and government regulations assuring a well-founded, balanced and clear decision making process regarding the balance and participation of all stakeholders (Guerrero et. al., 2006). This work provides an analysis of the status kept by some of the main fisheries along the Mexican area within the GoM-LME, pointing out both issues and initiatives suggested to avoid further degradation while increasing their profitability. 2. Materials and methods The Gulf of Mexico's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) comprises the belt of 200 nautical miles characterized by an extensive continental shelf possessing the biogeographical conditions favoring a wide diversity of habitats within which a high variety of marine fauna coexists. A bibliographic review was carried out in order to establish the status of fisheries along the Mexican area in the GoM-LME, supported by a query of historical records regarding the reported fishery statistics contained in official sources, including the interaction established by the authors of this work with the fishing sector through implementation of joint projects, field work, workshops, and meetings. In the case of tuna, shrimp and sharks and rays fisheries the current status was obtained from the National Fisheries Chart (DOF, 2012). If the required information was available, sustainable catch levels were estimated using the annual commercial catch series reported from 1986 to 2011 as input data. The latter was applied to striped and white mullets and snook resources. In order to estimate the maximum sustainable catch yield (MSCY), the analytical approach proposed by Martell and Froese (2012) was applied for fisheries characterized by a scarce amount of data. Such an approach applies a simple method to calculate MSCY based on Schaefer's surplus production model (1954). Results are presented in graphics in the form of phase plots to enable a practical understanding about overfishing warning (light gray), major concern status (dark gray) and 95% confidence interval for each MSCY estimation per fishery resource in their respective fishing areas. From the fishery status analysis, the management efforts pursued by the Mexican authorities regarding fishery issues, and from the new trends for fishery resources management worldwide, some proposals presented are intended to contribute to enhance fishery profitability as well as reduce their level of degradation. 3. Results and discussion Fishing represents one of the main economic activities being developed in Mexico. During recent years, fishing production at the national level has been kept at approximately 1.6 million tons per year, generating $ 19.9 billion Mexican pesos. An average of 217 thousand tons are produced in the Gulf of Mexico, which is 13.6% of the total volume per year, representing an income of about $ 4.6 billion Mexican pesos (CONAPESCA, 2013). According to Díaz de León and collaborators (2001), there are 264 potentially exploitable species within this region and Fernandez and collaborators (2011) report the existence of 2 molluscs cephalopods, 7 crustaceans, 21 fish, 18 sharks and rays as target species. However, catch volumes are focused on 46 species and the highest economic value is concentrated on 7 species (Fig. 1). The 5 fisheries possessing higher relevance in the region, either because of their volume and/or value or their demand in the market, are presented below (dark gray in Fig. 1). 4. Tuna fishery Tuna fishing constitutes the most autonomous and technologically-aided fishing activity developed in the Mexican EEZ in the Gulf of Mexico. This is exclusively carried out using 50–60 km longlines and an average of 673 hooks. Target species is Thunnus albacares (yellowfin tuna), representing approximately 67% of total catch, incidentally, swordfish (14%), other fishes (10%), sharks (4%) and other tuna species (5%) are also caught (DOF 2015). There is an increasing catch trend from 1988 to 2016 reporting 1098 t in 2013. Veracruz contributes with 96% of this production through landings at the Tuxpam port (Fig. 2). A perfectly systemized Observer On-board Program was implemented, allowing a timely tracking of this activity. As tuna species are considered straddling stocks, the decisions regarding their management are made within the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and Mexico is represented by the National Fishing Institute (NFI), which is the institution in Mexico responsible for planning and conducting scientific research regarding fishing and aquaculture. According to the Federation's Official Journal (DOF, from its abbreviation in Spanish) (2012), that publishes the National Fishing Chart, tuna fishery status in the Atlantic Ocean is 2
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Fig. 1. Annual mean catch (bars+SD) and annual mean value (lines+SD) of main commercial fisheries along the Mexican area within the GoM-LME during 2009– 2013. In dark gray species object of this study. Data source: CONAPESCA (2009–2013).
completely exploited and a reference point of 1136 t is estimated. Nevertheless, the quality of the product extracted in the Mexican area has allowed its positioning in the international market, specifically in the U.S. Consequently, although it is not possible to increase the fishing effort and the catches, it is possible to increase the financial gain by entering in new markets as direct suppliers (avoiding the brokers), thus the promotion of its international certification by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may represent the trigger in order to improve economic activity. This is very important because the certification permit allows for the export of first class tuna to the U.S market directly, instead of selling this product at a lower price to international brokers. 5. Shrimp fishery Six commercial shrimp species are caught within the Mexican area of the GoM-LME: northern brown shrimp (Farfantepeneus aztecus), white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus), Atlantic seabob (Xiphopenaeus kroyeri), northern pink shrimp (F. duorarum), redspotted shrimp (F. brasiliensis) and brown rock shrimp (Sicyonia brevirostris). Northern brown shrimp is the most widely distributed across the coastline, from Tamaulipas to Campeche states. The Atlantic seabob is distributed in Tabasco and Campeche states, whereas northern pink shrimp is basically in the Bank of Campeche and both red-spotted and brown rock shrimps are in Quintana Roo state. Right in front of Tabasco and Campeche coasts there is a fishing restricted area because of oil extraction activities, which represents an area of constant conflict between both economic activities. Northern brown shrimp fishery is sequential, i.e. it is a shared resource between artisanal fishery, which extracts the juvenile stage, and the industrial counterpart, extracting the adult stage. They both sum up an annual average from 1988 to 2013 of 12,500 t. From 2011, a considerable decrease was observed down to 9650 t. The DOF (2012) establishes that this fishery is exploited to the maximum sustainable level. Similarly, the Atlantic seabob fishery, which is completely an artisanal fishery, reports an annual production of approximately 1500 t. The Northern pink, red-spotted and brown rock shrimps industrial fisheries are currently in a degraded status (DOF, 2012), presenting a 2000 and 150 t per fishery as are shown in Fig. 3. The reference points for each fishery according to DOF (2012) as well as the issues they face are presented in Table 1. The closed season systemization process for northern brown shrimp, with fluctuating periods and differentials for coastal and open sea fisheries between full and new moon (from May to July for coastal fishery and until August for open sea fishery) that have been established by the NFI for lagoon systems from 1993 to this date has provided for stable catch levels in the latter systems and it
Fig. 2. Historic tuna production in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME, including Veracruz state contribution. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013) and DOF (2015)
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Fig. 3. Shrimp historic production in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME and fisheries status. Data source: (DOF, 2014c)
Table 1 Features, reference points and issues faced by shrimp fisheries in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME.
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Fig. 4. Phase plots of sustainable catch level estimations for striped and white mullet fisheries in the Mexican states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas. Light gray = overfishing warning; dark gray = major concern status; dotted lines = upper and lower limits of maximum sustainable catch. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013) and DOF (2014a)
has enabled recruit migration towards the sea while displaying positive results in order to achieve the population's replenishment (DOF, 2014c). Nonetheless, discards are still one of the main issues linked to this fishery requiring immediate attention. In this regard, the generation of fishery management models based on the ecosystem approach is primary. An ecosystems management model for shrimp fishery is currently ongoing at Veracruz south-center (Morán, 2016). On the other hand, artisanal fishery infrastructure is required to improve shrimp preservation and processing in order to promote its commercialization under new presentations and in different markets. 6. Striped and white mullet fisheries Striped (Mugil cephalus) and white (M. curema) mullets are sympatric resources sharing the same habitat while keeping reproductive isolation. They are very valued along the Gulf of Mexico coast. During the last 7 years, their catch volumes average 4762 and 4417 t, respectively. The National Fishing Chart (2012) establishes that these fisheries are completely exploited and it defines as reference points 3017 t for striped mullet and 4665 t for white mullet. Striped mullet population is highly vulnerable during its reproductive season (March-April, November-December) as its eggs are highly valued exceeding the market value of meat, thus its commercialization in this stage is elevated. It is important to diversify the product presentations to fillet, cooked, dried-salted and its gizzards and male gonads. The breeding areas for these two species have been altered due to a change of land utilization leading to recruitment alterations. According to the MSCY estimated in this study, striped mullet is characterized by fluctuating levels within the sustainable range in Tamaulipas, whereas white mullet is maintained at risk levels. The reverse situation occurs in Veracruz, where striped mullet is at risk since 2001 whereas white mullet fluctuates within the lower limits of maximum sustainable catch (Fig. 4). Actions need to be implemented in order to protect the full life-cycle of both species. 7. Shark and skate fisheries CONAPESCA (2013) reported the existence of 54 shark species and 41 skate species, of which 9 of the former (Rizoprionodon terraenovae, Carcharhinus acronotus, Sphyrna tiburo, Carcharhinus limbatus, Sphyrna lewini, Carcharhinus leucas, Carcharhinus falciformis, Carcharhinus fbrevipina, Carcharhinus porosus) and 5 of the latter (Aetobatus narinari, Rhinoptera bonasus, Dasyatis americana, Dasyatis centroura, Himantura schmardae) are commercially relevant, whereas 3 shark species are endangered according to CITES list (S. lewini, S. mokarran and S. zygaena). It is important to note that R. terranovae represents around 60–75% of total catch along this area, and only one CITES species (S. lewini) is commercially relevant, representing less than 5% of total commercial catch in number, mainly along the Campeche coast (Zea et. al., 2016). Some shark species caught are derived from incidental catch during the tuna fishery. CONAPESCA (2013) reports the existence of 332 permits for shark and skate catching, from 34 medium-size vessels and 1681 small-scale boats operating along the Gulf of 5
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Fig. 5. Shark and skate historical catch (1975–2013) in the Mexican area within the GoM-LME. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013).
Mexico coastline. Catch levels show a decreasing trend between 1997 and 2008, with recovery signs from that period to this date reaching 3800 t for skates and 4100 t for sharks per year (DOF, 2012) (Fig. 5). Reference points are referred to in the National Fishing Chart (DOF, 2012) as 6026 and 2887 t for sharks and skates, respectively. Thus these fisheries are classified as completely exploited. These resources represent an attention focus due their high vulnerability because they are long-lived, slow-growing, with low-fertility and late-maturity fishery resources as approximately 50% of the catch is comprised of immature organisms. This fishery profitability is low, although a high potential exists for product and subproduct development that requires training, technology transfer and infrastructure establishment for processing.
8. Snook fishery Snook is a species characterized by the high quality of its meat. Its fishery is based on three species, Centropomus undecimalis, C. poeyi and C. parallelus, which are among those yielding a higher economic income due to their elevated value in the market. This fishery is developed in Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche states by 8013 fishermen operating 3508 boats and reporting catch volumes of approximately 7000 t (CONAPESCA, 2013). This catch takes place in rivers, estuaries and lagoon systems, including Laguna Madre, Pueblo Viejo, Tamiahua-Tampamachoco, Alvarado, Coatzacoalcos, Carmen-Machona and Laguna de Términos. All stages are vulnerable, mainly during the reproductive season leading to recruitment overfishing. The National Fishing Chart (2012) established that reference points per state are 2300 t for Tabasco, 2100 for Campeche, 1500 t for Veracruz and 100 t for Tamaulipas, indicating that this fishery is exploited to its maximum sustainable level. According to our analysis, the estimated sustainable catch levels for Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche during 2008–2011 are within the acceptable range, after a marked period of overfishing warning in Campeche and Tabasco (Fig. 6). According to the previous analysis, the biomass obtained by fishing activity has no more growth margin, hence the available biomass must be preserved in order to contribute to food safety and the economic incomes. The use of this biomass must be optimized with actions tending to enhance the value of the commercial chain, such as: 1) promoting the product concentration for seeking better bargaining power in marketing; 2) designing new products and subproducts to open new markets; 3) generating new brands to recognize the wild catch under responsible fishing criteria; 4) implementing a traceability process to give certainty and confidence for customers; 5) promoting financial incentives for fishermen who contribute with conservation of fishery resources; 6) setting advertising campaigns to increase regional fish consumption in several presentations; 7) promoting fish production with sanitary conditions, from extraction, processing, commercialization until reaching the consumer; and 8) producing high quality products with accessible prices to diverse customers. To do this, capacity building, training, working capital, technology transfer and infrastructure for preservation and processing should be improved. A collaborative work between government, academic and productive sectors could lead to improved capacity building of organizations, administration, accounting, health and safety, quality control, traceability, marketing, environmental conservation and processing technology. The government support programs must invest in port infrastructure and services (docks, gathering center, ice maker, cold chain, processing plants) to fishing communities instead of the current individual support to acquire engines and boats, which results in limited impact. A seed capital to work could be assigned to fishermen's organizations committed to the conservation of fishery resources as an incentive. Also it is important to facilitate and spread cooperation channels between potential strategic partners who are interested to invest or trade. The training and raising awareness about the importance of responsible fishing and of the fisherman's role as manager of the resource is essential for conservation by their own conviction according to MarViva (2014). Since small-scale fisheries are highly variable on the temporal scale, the optimization of the activity has to be in accord with the dynamic of the resource, generating the highest possible value of each unit captured (Galarza and Kamiche, 2015), instead of fishing every day with low catches and scarce profits. The challenge is to introject in the fisherman a business vision, articulate the extraction with the market and produce quality and competitive products to get higher profits. From this, subsistence fishing could be converted into small enterprises with the consequent quality increase of life for fishermen. The intention is to focus the fishing effort in specific seasons and/or locations according to species to allow the recovery of the stock the rest of the year. To do so, the processing plants must be enabled to process different species and products during the year avoiding unique species to be profitable. This involves the effective incorporation of criteria for environmental and social responsibility which differentiate the product and make it competitive in the country’s markets according to MarViva (2014). 6
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Fig. 6. Phase plots of sustainable catch level estimations for snook fishery in the Mexican states of Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche. Light gray = overfishing warning; dark gray = major concern status; dotted lines = upper and lower limits of maximum sustainable catch. Data source: CONAPESCA (2013) and DOF (2014b).
On the other hand, the traditional management plan for all the described fisheries is focused on the regulation of inputs and outputs. The existing legislation is based on the control of minimal catch size, the establishment of closed seasons in order to protect the adult or the breeding stages, technical specifications establishment for fishing systems and gear and restricting the number of fishing permits and boats. Nevertheless, the diversity of environmental, ecologic, economic, social and legal factors depending on this activity require the consideration of a comprehensive multidisciplinary management as a mechanism to avoid degradation of the resources. In this regard, the Mexican government has invested human and economic resources to generate regulation programs and management plans for these fisheries (DOF, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2015) envisaging relevant actions. An important effort has to be initiated in order to move towards the ecosystem approach to management in the region. The success in implementing the ecosystem approach depends largely on the inclusion of all users and reconciling the perspectives and objectives of each of the parties (Ramos et al., 2013), therefore, to work on agreed upon management objectives that represent the interests of all sectors is indispensable. According to Defeo (2015) it is important to work on a hierarchy of ecological and social objectives, including general objectives of national policy and work through operational objectives. The regulation programs of the fisheries here studied have objectives agreed by governmental, productive and academic sectors. Ramos and collaborators (2013) note the lack of ecosystem indices that can be articulated to support fisheries management. Hence, it is necessary to generate biological, ecological, economic and social indicators to assess the current status of fisheries and the ecosystem approach to management, including monitoring of changes to support follow up actions. According to Defeo (2015), the internal organization and social cohesion as well as property rights of fishing communities and co-management responsibilities contribute to achieve the ecosystem approach. These actions should be promoted in the GoM-LME. Special attention has to be focused on multidisciplinary research to fill information gaps. According to FAO (2011) measuring the effect of different individual factors is time consuming and costly and also difficult to interpret given the scope of an ecosystem. In that regard, the own-price index on supply elasticity is an important metric. The cross-price supply elasticities can be used to account for other anthropogenic effects on the ecosystem as well. So, a trend in supply elasticity estimates over time will provide an indicator of stock abundance change and its related ecosystem health, which can be used by managers to improve the quality of life of participants in the fisheries and the industries they are dependent upon. A proactive governance regime where fishermen are legally represented in a strategic multisectoral framework is something necessary (Defeo, 2015). There is also a need to develop the mechanisms for social participation in the decision-making and possibly the implementation of multidisciplinary long term research and management programs (Fernández et. al., 2011). In this regard, fisheries management in Mexico still lacks a long-term plan, because the fisheries plans are updated every six years and usually change in approaches and emphasis (Fernández et. al., 2011) so that, this represents a constraint. However, if producers, scientists and stakeholders support fishery management plans and regulation programs recently created, and they promote its implementation, it could be the beginning of a long-term plan. 7
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9. Conclusions Fisheries worldwide face a degraded condition and those developed in the Gulf of Mexico are no exception. Estimations of available biomass are necessary for all resources as well as their interaction with the environmental variability, in order to be compared with the established reference points and thus enabling the monitoring of their performance. The present analysis points out that is not practical to expect a biomass increase. The most feasible approach is to increase the fisheries’ values through promotion and/or diversification of the products as well as the opening of new markets. In order to do so, it is mandatory to develop periodic assessments possessing an economic dimension that includes both fishing products and subproducts. Furthermore, it is essential to implement multidisciplinary actions within a framework of an ecosystems approach that includes the regulation programs and management plans generated for each fishery with appropriate consideration of the participation of the productive, academic and government sectors, thus assuring its adoption. 10. Financing This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. References Caddy, J., Seijo, J.C., 2005. This is more difficult than we thought! The responsibility of scientists, managers and stakeholders to mitigate the unsustainability of marine fisheries. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 360, 59–75. CONAPESCA, 2013. Anuario Estadístico de Acuacultura y Pesca 2013. Dirección General de Planeación Programación y Evaluación. Comisión Nacional de Pesca y Acuacultura. Mexico. p. 295. Defeo, O., 2015. 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