Insights from the users to improve fisheries performance: Fishers' knowledge and attitudes on fisheries policies in Bahía de Kino, Gulf of California, Mexico

A. Cinti, W. Shaw and J. Torre

Marine Policy, 2010, vol. 34, issue 6, 1322-1334

Abstract: This study investigated the interpretation and level of support of government regulations in Bahía de Kino, Sonora, one of the most important fishing communities in terms of diving extraction of benthic resources in the Northern Gulf of California. Research was conducted from April to August 2007, focusing on the small-scale fisheries sector of commercial divers. Information on fishers' awareness of current policies, fishers' attitudes concerning different aspects of fisheries regulation, and fishers' suggestions on how their fisheries should be managed, was gathered through structured interviews (including open and closed-ended questions), informal talks and participant observation. Results provide further evidence supporting the need for formally recognizing the fishers as key stakeholders in local fisheries, and for working cooperatively towards the design of management strategies and regulations that provide better stimulus for resource stewardship and discourage overfishing. Very importantly, this study suggests that there is strong support from resource users for implementing regulatory measures for local fisheries. Results could be used as a preliminary baseline to initiate the discussion among fishery stakeholders towards the development of species-specific management plans for the area, as required by the recently enacted fisheries act in Mexico, the "Ley General de Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables".

Keywords: Small-scale; fisheries; Policy; Fishers'; attitudes; Fisheries; management; Incentives; Gulf; of; California (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308-597X(10)00111-9
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:marpol:v:34:y:2010:i:6:p:1322-1334

Access Statistics for this article

Marine Policy is currently edited by Eddie Brown

More articles in Marine Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().