Area 77 (Pacific, Eastern Central)

The hand-collected chionista clam fishery in the Northern Gulf of California is a traditional fishery that has been practiced by local fishing families for decades in coastal areas. A group of chionista clam producers is seeking to make improvements in the fishery through a FIP Fishery Improvement Project, the main interested producers from the community of the Golfo de Santa Clara Sonora are the family group of Renzo Mendoza Permit holder, and the Cooperative SCPP Almejeros Unidos del Golfo SCL. From the community of San Felipe B.C. the clam producers Jesus Lopez, Ruben Lopez, Jose Orozco, Jose Lopez Figueroa, and Israel Lopez Figueroa, as well as the permit holder Jorge Alvaro; also from the ejidal community Rodolfo Campodonico municipality of Caborca Sonora, the SCPPE Bahia San Jorge SCL, also some seafood distributors are interested in collaborating to improve the fishery, among them Alto Golfo Seafood, and GOLPAC, also some government institutions have expressed their interest in participating as the Regional Center for Aquaculture and Fisheries Research (CRIAPS) from Guaymas under the direction of Dr. Raul Molina to formalize the FIP of chionista clam to generate information to support the development of the Fishery Management Plan, also Jesus Zatarain director of the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Reserve by CONANP. The project is currently supported by the Resource Legacy Fund (RLF), the Sustainable Fisheries Plan by the French Development Agency (ADF) and the Mexican Conservation for nature Fund (FMCN). Information is currently being gathered to carry out an MSC pre-assessment and a Social Responsibility Assessment to comply with the HRSRP from Fishery Progress, and the Smart Fish Value Recovery Model has been implemented with some of the producers.

Since 2011, the fishers of El Manglito, La Paz Bay, have been working to restore the callo de hacha (pen shell) population of three species: Atrina maura, Pinna rugosa, and Atrina tuberculosa, which has been depleted for nearly ten years, to reactivate the fishery sustainably. Although the fishing method (Diver-Harvest) is selective and not very intrusive, the recovery of the stock to the desired levels has not been observed. Since 2017, 109 fishing cooperatives have received their fishing concession, consolidating efforts and objectives into one organization. Members of the Organización de Pescadores Rescatando la Ensenada (OPRE) implemented a non-extractive methodology to evaluate the resource's abundance, suspending extraction between 2011 and 2017. Key actions included strengthening governance, conducting surveillance operations to prevent poaching, and performing annual population monitoring.

The annual stock assessment has been essential in requesting the fishing quota from the Comisión Nacional de Acuacultura y Pesca (CONAPESCA). These assessments allow for observing changes in the resource's population dynamics and size structure. This year, the evaluation was conducted in April in eight fishing banks, with the active participation of the fishers, support from NOS Noroeste Sustentable, and supervision by the Instituto Mexicano de Investigación en Pesca y Acuacultura Sostenible (IMIPAS).

This social-ecological system is well-positioned to develop activities reinforcing fishery management, developing new control rules, and evaluating management strategies. Additionally, in this fishery, it is essential to identify any impact the fishery may have on the benthic organism community in the area. However, in terms of fishery improvements, an urgent issue that needs to be addressed is defining the objectives of the fishery, governance, roles, and responsibilities to establish effective management.

The brown shrimp fishery in the Mexican Pacific is one of the most important in the country. Several years of good practices and technical and scientific research have allowed catches to be maintained over time. For this reason, it is necessary to continue with the fishing improvements that will allow this fishery to be certified in the medium term. To achieve this, we seek to develop specific activities to improve the fishery indicators of the three principles established by MSC. The project has a specific geographic scope in the Gulf of California, Mexico, particularly with the brown shrimp fishery conducted in the waters off Sonora. The fishing gear used is bottom trawl. The actions of this project incorporate topics from the review of the status of the stock, its harvest control rules, and strategies, as well as the development and implementation of an onboard monitoring program that provides relevant information on primary, secondary, and ETP species. In parallel, the research should be accompanied by awareness campaigns on the legal framework of the fishery, as well as workshops among stakeholders to define short and long-term objectives. It is essential to point out that during the duration of this project, it is possible that other activities necessary for the improvement of the fishery would be updated, hoping to create everything required to be in condition for a full assessment in 2028.

Mexico´s Pacific Coast shrimp fishery is one of the country´s most important fisheries. It is first in terms of the
commercial value of the harvest from the industrial and small-scale fleets and generates the most jobs directly
and indirectly (approximately 37,000) (SAGARPA, 2013). La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve (REBIEN, for its
acronym in Spanish) is a 144,868-hectare coastal protected area that includes environmental lakes, coastal
lagoons, and mangrove ecosystems. It is located in the Gulf of Tehuantepec the southern state of Chiapas, close
to the border with Guatemala. Fishing activities are the main sources of protein and livelihood for the local
communities and approximately 18 small-scale cooperatives (600 fishermen) hold permits and/or concessions
for shrimp and finfish, in the REBIEN (SEMARNAT-CONANP 2009; Rodríguez-Perafán, 2014; Armengol et al.,
2021). White shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is the most important commercial species due to its price and
average annual production (~2,800 tons) (SAGARPA 2006).
This FIP will begin with the participation of three cooperatives, however, the incorporation of other cooperatives
is expected as the benefits from engaging in the FIP become evident. The participating cooperatives -SCPP
Topón, SCPP El Carrizal, and SCPP El Castaño- include over 200 members and land approximately
150 tons of white shrimp annually. Each of these cooperatives has a concession with multiple fishing areas
where the fishers use cast nets as their main fishing gear. The cooperatives harvest shrimp three or four times
during the year, and the rainy season (May-September) is the most important in terms of production
(CONAPESCA 2015). The cooperatives have established well-enforced internal measures to manage the shrimp
fishing efforts, including voluntary seasonal closures that the cooperatives determined by monitoring the size and
weight of the shrimp and a limited time window for harvests (4 or 5 hours per day). Due to these measures, the
three cooperatives have observed stability in the annual average of their white shrimp catch for the last five years
(~35 tons), however, they recognize the need for better management and harvest practices.

There are no specific policies or management measures for the white shrimp fishery in the REBIEN. In addition,
the pre-assessment has identified other challenges such as data collection, harvest strategy, specific objectives,
and bycatch rates. Very limited value is added to harvests locally and as part of the FIP activities, the
cooperatives will receive support to improve quality, add value, and transition to more formal market segments
that compensate for their fishery management efforts.