Strategic Line II: Contribution to the sustainable development of new fisheries in Northwest Mexico; bio-ecologic and bio-economic feasibility study

The fishing sector in Mexico contributes approximately 0.7% to Gross Domestic Product, and employs close to 1.3% of working population (I.N.P. 2000). Nevertheless, it is evident that fishing production is regional: almost two thirds of the production comes from four states (Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California, and Baja California Sur). In fact, apart from Northwest Mexico, there are few fisheries on a large scale (e.g. tuna fish in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico).

However, most of the capture is based on few massive resources: small pelagic fish (sardines and mackerel, and large pellagic fish (tuna fish) squid and shrimp.

In general, it is well known that in Mexico many of the fishery resources are already in their limit or are going over sustainability levels. In spite of this situation, we can assert that the country has not yet taken full advantage of its fishery resources, and that there is still a margin of maneuver associated to potential massive resources that are found mainly in the areas of high biological productivity, such as the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula and the Gulf of California (e.g. red claw crayfish, hake, pelagic fish, and macroalgae); other potential resources of lower magnitude but higher price in the market in the exclusive economic zone (e.g. shrimp and crab at greater depth) or in the coastal zone (e.g. cannonball jellyfish); and some resources that have been under exploited and with a wide margin in the market (e.g. squid and large pelagic fish, sea urchin, clam, fish and ornamental invertebrates).

The general objectives of this strategic line of research are:

• Estimate abundance of resources, define areas of major concentration, seasonality, and accessibility of the fleet that would allow defining permanency, or not, opening a fishery, and starting studies leading to the production of a plan for the sustainable management of these resources.

• Generate sufficient and necessary information on fisheries biology and ecology of resources to estimate the biomass to be extracted without compromising the integrity of the resource, as well as determining critical periods in which capture must be prohibited because it interferes with vital processes.

• Generate relevant information of the components, interactions, and basic processes which define the ecosystems or subsystems in which the target species are inserted. It will allow to estimate the feasibility or not of different exploitation and management to fit in a dynamic reality s.

• Estimate the number of units in population, variability, and genetic health of the resources because it is important to identify them for an effective management of a fishery or resource.

• Generate bio-economic studies to explore better management alternatives in terms of sustainability of the resource and regional economical benefit.