RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically, quickly, and extensively affected fisheries, the effects of which have yet to be quantified globally, although some efforts have already been made locally and regionally. This study provides insights regarding the impacts of the pandemic in Mexican small-scale fisheries, explores community responses and digital divide. A total of 1493 interviews were conducted, and a social media analysis that reviewed 9079 posts from April to December 2020 was performed. The results show large socio-economic and environmental impacts (e.g. 89% of the markets closed in April, and 72% of respondents perceived an increase in the amount of solid waste). Women have faced increased inequalities when accessing fishing resources or healthcare. Responses have been varied and include closing communities, and fishing organizations distributing emergency funds. Fishers relate feeling very or moderately comfortable with technology and have spent more time using digital platforms during the pandemic than before. While the effects are still unfolding, there is an urgent need to breach the digital divide to guarantee equal opportunities for all. Efforts are needed to ensure that the most vulnerable groups (e.g. women, indigenous people, and elderly individuals) are not excluded from opportunities to access, use or manage resources, including technology. This global crisis may also bring opportunities for adaptation and the implementation of local solutions (e.g. reducing the fishing effort for high-value products), to prepare for future shocks. The findings in this study serve to promote development strategies that build resilience in fishing communities for healthier oceans.
RESUMO
Coastal marine ecosystems provide livelihoods for small-scale fishers and coastal communities around the world. Small-scale fisheries face great challenges since they are difficult to monitor, enforce, and manage, which may lead to overexploitation. Combining territorial use rights for fisheries (TURF) with no-take marine reserves to create TURF-reserves can improve the performance of small-scale fisheries by buffering fisheries from environmental variability and management errors, while ensuring that fishers reap the benefits of conservation investments. Since 2012, 18 old and new community-based Mexican TURF-reserves gained legal recognition thanks to a regulation passed in 2012; their effectiveness has not been formally evaluated. We combine causal inference techniques and the Social-Ecological Systems framework to provide a holistic evaluation of community-based TURF-reserves in three coastal communities in Mexico. We find that, overall, reserves have not yet achieved their stated goals of increasing the density of lobster and other benthic invertebrates, nor increasing lobster catches. A lack of clear ecological and socioeconomic effects likely results from a combination of factors. First, some of these reserves might be too young for the effects to show (reserves were 6-10 years old). Second, the reserves are not large enough to protect mobile species, like lobster. Third, variable and extreme oceanographic conditions have impacted harvested populations. Fourth, local fisheries are already well managed, and while reserves may protect populations within its boundaries, it is unlikely that reserves might have a detectable effect in catches. However, even small reserves are expected to provide benefits for sedentary invertebrates over longer time frames, with continued protection. These reserves may provide a foundation for establishing additional, larger marine reserves needed to effectively conserve mobile species.