Area 77 (Pacific, Eastern Central)

Artisanal fishing in Santa Rosalía-Mulegé has drastically decreased in recent years. Much of the decline is due to the complete collapse of the jumbo squid fishery. As the squid fishery declined, artisanal fishermen shifted their effort to yellowtails, snappers and groupers species, which are now showing signs of overfishing.

The motivation for undertaking this FIP is to enable local stakeholders to improve the biological, social and economic system associated with small-scale fishing in the Santa Rosalía-Mulegé corridor, so that fishers and others who depend on fishing resources are incentivized to implement positive changes, and can share the benefits and enjoy a better quality of life. We believe this is possible if the systems are managed for long-term sustainability, ensuring that the benefits are propagated and enjoyed by future generations.

This multi-species finfish artisanal fishery was selected for a FIP because we believe that it is possible to significantly improve its performance, certainly relative to its existing conditions, so that local fish populations, fishers, buyers and consumers benefit. Whether we achieve this objective depends on our ability to identify the factors that limit or prevent the existing fishery from becoming more productive, stable and resilient to external shocks and to identify measures to overcome these limitations. It also depends on the willingness of local fishers and others to adopt and implement these measures, and the likelihood that, once implemented, these measures will produce the desired results. We believe these results are desirable and achievable.

The potential barriers to achieving sustainability are myriad. However, these barriers could be overcome because:

• There is a long tradition of small-boat (‘pangas’) fishing in the Santa Rosalía-Mulegé corridor;

• Local fishers have the potential to influence the abundance, survival and/or growth of the local fish populations;

• The catches of yellowtail, snappers and groupers is an important source of income for local fishers and the Santa Rosalía-Mulegé community;

• The fisher community from the Santa Rosalía-Mulegé corridor come from similar socioeconomic backgrounds; their ability to fish (access to permits, equipment, etc.) and the physical, biological, social and economic factors that affect them are common to all;

• There is potential support among the community, institutions, project partners and project funders; and

• There are viable options to improve the fishery in probable future scenarios.

During the Fishery Pre-Assessment, discussions with local fishers, observations of fishing behavior and catch records, and sampling data collected at various fishing ports determined that yellowtail, snapper, and grouper (represented by eight species) dominate catches in the Santa Rosalía-Mulegé corridor, caught with hook and line ("piola," local Mexican name) and surrounding gillnets ("chinchorro") as fishing gear.

Four separate Assessment Units (UoA) were identified to facilitate our fisheries assessment and improvement work plan:

• Yellowtail handline. There is a group of fishers who target yellowtail with handlines. They do not use gillnets during the same fishing days from the same fishing boats. The local yellowtail fishery targets fish from a population throughout the Gulf of California, so the actual population is larger than the geographic area covered by this PA. The yellowtail fishery only occurs when the migratory yellowtail is found in the local area.

• Yellowtail gillnet. A separate, but smaller, number of fishers target the same yellowtail population described above using gillnets, depending on the availability and abundance of this resource. Some fishers can sometimes switch from handlines to gillnets when targeting yellowtail, but not on the same day.

• Snapper handline. Handline fishers go after snappers, available year-round, usually when yellowtail is less available. They do not handline for other species on the same trips and sometimes target snappers and yellowtails during the same fishing trip. Because snappers are relatively territorial, the stock is roughly defined as those that occur within the SRMC geography.

• Grouper handline. A distinct handline fishery occurs by season or availability for grouper species. Some of the same anglers switch from other species to groupers, but usually only target groupers on a given fishing trip. Because groupers are territorial, the stock is roughly defined as those that occur within the geography of the SRMC area.

Because these 4 UoAs represent eight species exploited by two different fishing gears, by the same fishing fleet operating in the same fishing area under the same economic units and commercial fishing permit, recommendations provided by the PA for each one of 4 UoAs were compiled and prioritized within this multispecies finfish fishery to develop the FIP workplan and address the challenges of the fishery to improve its performance against the MSC standards indicators.

Although it is necessary to continue to implement a comprehensive program of monitoring fishing data for separate species and gear in order to detect changes in species abundance and assess species vulnerability to define specific measures and limit threats to the most vulnerable, combining the PA recommendations for this multispecies fishery will allow 1) to harmonize this FIP with other FIPs that are being implemented in other areas of the Gulf of California for the same species, and 2) facilitate the adoption of unified/coherent fisheries management measures within the entire Gulf of California region.

It is also expected that promoting and implementing fisheries enhancement measures for this single combined UoA will indirectly benefit each of the 4 separate UoAs through a potential spillover effect, as measures will be taken for the most vulnerable species.

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). Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve (MNBR) located in the state of Nayarit is the largest (~130,000 hectares) and most productive coastal wetland in the Mexican Pacific and represents 15% of the country's mangrove coverage (SEMARNAT-CONANP 2013).

Approximately 20 small-scale cooperatives hold permits and/or concessions to fish in 15 different areas in MNBR. Fishing activities are the main source of food and livelihood for local communities. The most important commercial species is the whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), with an average annual production of approximately 3,538 tons, during the fishing season which runs from September through March (Chavez-Herrera et al., 2020). This FIP will begin with the participation of two of the larger cooperatives, but other cooperatives will be invited to join as the benefits from engaging in the FIP become evident. The participating cooperatives - SCPP Ignlogar, and SCPP Llano del Tigre - include over 440 members and land over 500 tons of whiteleg shrimp per season. Each of these cooperatives has a concession with multiple fishing areas where
they use two fishing gear types of fishing: cast nets and a trap style called "tapos", which are semi-fixed structures made with mangrove branches that enclose and concentrate shrimp and other species in a lagoon or estuary. Some of the cooperatives have repopulation and mangrove restoration areas, reflecting their commitment to improving their ecosystem. The two cooperatives have recorded significant decreases in their shrimp catch over the last three years and they recognize the need for better management and harvest practices.

Although the whiteleg shrimp fishery has a modified escapement strategy, seasonal closures and monitoring programs, the most recent data shows a decreasing trend in catch levels (INAPESCA, 2018; INAPESCA, 2019). This indicates a need to strengthen data collection and the harvest strategy or have additional management measures in place. Therefore, the FIP aims to generate more information on the fishery and the ecosystem, reduce environmental deterioration, and transition towards responsible shrimp fishing practices that add value to the product and provide more benefits to communities. Much of the shrimp harvested by the cooperatives is directed to the informal, dehydrated shrimp market which adds very little value to the harvest. As
part of the FIP activities, the cooperatives will receive support to transition to more formal market segments that value their fishery management efforts.

AGAC has recently assessed its tropical tuna fishery against the MSC Fisheries Standard - it resulted in the certification of the yellowfin tuna stock, which was one of the three Units of Assessment (for more information on this process, click here).

With its Eastern Pacific Ocean skipjack & bigeye tuna - purse seine FIP, the goal is to contribute to the improvement of skipjack and bigeye tuna stock status in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, more specifically in the IATTC area of purview, as these stocks did not meet the MSC requirements in the aforementioned assessment. For that, the work here will focus only on the PIs that did not meet SG80 (mainly the ones that might not be fully tackled by the MSC Certification's Client Action Plan, more specifically to resolve the non-binding conditions that were set) and on the recommendations made by the CAB.

This FIP was developed exclusively by AGAC.

(NB: AGAC = Asociación de Grandes Atuneros Congeladores = Association of Large Tuna Freezers; please note that the denomination OPAGAC [Organización de Productores de Grandes Atuneros Congeladores] is contained in AGAC and refers to vessels flagged in the EU. While the name "OPAGAC" is more widely known, it is AGAC that integrates all the vessels in the association)

Mexico’s shrimp fishery is one of the country’s most important fisheries in terms of value (SAGARPA, 2013). Sinaloa is the second most important producer of shrimp in the country after Sonora (Anuario 2018) In Sinaloa, it has been estimated that around 600 small-scale are authorized to target the species. According to some recent data, 238 permits are active in the northern part of the state. The most important commercial species are the blue and brown shrimps (Litopenaeus stylirostris and Farfantepenaeus californiensis). This FIP will begin with the participation of 4 cooperatives, but the project aims to include more groups as cooperatives that operate in the Navachiste Bay, that includes producers that target both species using bottom trawl and gillnets inside the Navachiste Bay and the open waters around the bay. Finally, our project although aims to follow the framework of Fishery progress, monitoring and reporting on MSC environmental indicators, will also be monitoring and reporting improvements on both social and financial indicators of our producer partners, this will be reflected in the implementation of a triple impact workplan.