How Mexico’s Fishing Refuges Are Fighting Back Against Poaching
1 min read
Summary
In Mexico, government reports show that more than 700 marine species are fished in 83 fisheries, which support 200,000 Mexican families, but a lack of obligation to look after the health of the country’s fisheries has led to community groups creating refuge zones to conserve and repopulate marine ecosystems.
While some saw the creation of these zones as crazy, they are a management tool to enable communities to return to good fishing practices and allow them to look after and teach the younger generations how fishing should be done.
Monitoring divers are paired up and, for 30 minutes, a buoy tracks their location as they collect data on the type of seabed and its contents every 50 centimeters for 50 meters, or identify, count, and indicate the size of fish they encounter.
There are hopes that a well-kept fishing refuge will result in larger organisms, greater abundance of fish, and more diversity of species.
