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CHAPTER 6 The Importance of Fisheries in the Gulf of California and Ecosystem-Based Sustainable Co-Management for Conservation miguel á. cisneros-mata Summary The waters of the Gulf of California are well known for their high productivity, which results from a complex array of physiographic and oceanographic attributes. This high year-round productivity supports large populations of sea birds, marine turtles and marine mammals; it also supports important fisheries (industrial and small-scale) of small pelagic fishes, predatory fishes, and jumbo squid. The combination of beautiful coastlines and fishery products of high market value has been a strong attractant for human settlement: the Gulf coastal region is inhabited by 8 million people, and the main economic activities are shrimp cultivation, fisheries, and tourism. The Gulf of California is commonly regarded as Mexico’s foremost fishing region because 40 –50 percent of the country’s commercial fisheries are located here. This chapter provides insight into the socioeconomic and ecological importance of fisheries in the Gulf. A historical account identifies five stages in the history of fishing in the Gulf, from exploration (1930s to late 1960s) to the present, critical phase. Four commercial fishing sectors in the Gulf are identified: artisanal or small-scale, industrial , sport or recreational, and subsistence fishing; only the first two are discussed here. Artisanal fishers, typically using hand-operated fishing gear in pangas (small boats) with outboard gasoline motors, catch about 80 species , whereas industrial boats with diesel engines generally fish for about 6 species guilds. An estimated 50,000 artisanal fishers operate 25,000 pangas, and some 10,000 fishers work on approximately 1,300 boats in the industrial sector. Fisheries in the Gulf are highly socioeconomically relevant in terms 120 / miguel á. cisneros-mata of jobs and regional income generated per capita. Artisanal fisheries are the region’s only primary sector in which two direct jobs are generated for each investmentofabout$10,000(U.S.dollarsthroughout),and,inaddition,they immediately obtain food and goods for trade. A rough analysis is presented here on the importance of Gulf fisheries with respect to job generation, and shrimp is identified as a key driver in this respect. Nearly 90 percent of all pangas operate during the shrimp season (September to March); as the shrimp fishing comes to an end, fishers shift to other fishing resources or stop fishing. Most seasonal artisanal fisheries thus actually generate labor days rather than permanent jobs. In a given year there are nearly 18,000 pangas that work in the Gulf with an average of nearly 36,000 labor days. Industrial fisheries in the Gulf include 1,280 active boats with crews that vary from five to eleven members. If we assume a mean ratio of 1:6 for direct to indirect jobs, then total labor days generated by fishing activities in the Gulf amount to an average of about 271,000 labor days per year. The commercial catch in the Gulf of California during 2002 was 597,153 metric tons (mt); artisanal fisheries yielded 26.8 percent or an average 8.9 mt/boat, while industrial fisheries averaged 336.2 mt/vessel. In that year, the firsthand or “beach” value of Gulf fisheries amounted to $332 million or 27.7 percent of the country’s fisheries’ total value, with an estimated $8,881/year per panga and $132,796/year per industrial fishing vessel (costs not subtracted from firsthand value). In terms of landed weight, 90 percent of the total catch includes ten species groups, of which the most important for artisanal fisheries are shrimp, jumbo squid, and clams; most important for industrial fisheries are sardines, shrimps, and tunas. Sardines and squid constitute almost 60 percent of the total Gulf catch (cultivated shrimp, which is highly valued, is not included in the analysis because it is not caught in the wild). Excluding squid and sardines, fisheries landings in the Gulf represent 10 percent (130,000 mt) of Mexico’s total landings by weight, yet with this reduction (from 60 to 10 percent) the total value of landings decreases by only 12 percent. The squid and sardine fisheries generate 9,849 jobs per year in the Gulf, which represents 3.7 percent of the Gulf’s total fisheries labor days. At specific ports where the bulk of squid and sardine landings take place, these two fisheries are clearly of high economic importance. Management and conservation efforts for Gulf fisheries should consider both ecological and socioeconomic impacts. This paper offers an...

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