UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO - BICOCCA

Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e della Terra

Corso di Laurea Magistrale Internazionale in
Marine Sciences - Scienze Marine

Small-Scale Fisheries and Sustainable Tourism:

challenges and opportunities.
The Case of Costa Grande, Guerrero, Mexico

Supervisor: Prof. Stefano MALATESTA

Co-supervisor: Dr. Pablo Noe CASTRO MORENO

Maria Giovanna STOPPANI

Student n 833437

Milan, 31st May 2023

Academic Year 2021/2022

Index

Maps ........................................................................................................................................... 3

Tables ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Figures........................................................................................................................................ 3

Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 5

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7

Chapter 1. Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 9

1.1 SSFs relevance .................................................................................................................. 9

1.2 SSF in the scientific literature .......................................................................................... 9

1.3 SSFs Challenges ............................................................................................................. 14

1.3.1 Representation .......................................................................................................... 14

1.3.2 Assessment ............................................................................................................... 15

1.4 Synergies with other sectors ........................................................................................... 17

1.4.1 Tourism .................................................................................................................... 17

1.5 Transition to a Blue Economy ........................................................................................ 19

Chapter 2. Case study Area: Costa Grande, Guerrero, Mexico ............................................... 23

2.1 Governmental Framework: Mexico................................................................................ 24

2.1.1. Estrategia de Instrumentación para una Economía Oceánica Sostenible .............. 24

2.1.2 Ley General de Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables .................................................. 26

2.1.3 Carta Nacional Pesquera (CNP) ............................................................................. 26

2.1.4 Zonas de Refugio Pesquero ...................................................................................... 27

2.1.5 SSF Cooperatives in Mexico .................................................................................... 28

2.2 Statal Scale: Guerrero ..................................................................................................... 29

2.3 Municipal Scale: Petatlán ............................................................................................... 30

2.4 The Cooperatives ............................................................................................................ 31

Chapter 3: Methodology .......................................................................................................... 33

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 3.1 Case study ....................................................................................................................... 33

3.2 Interviews .................................................................................................................... 35

3.3 Background knowledge: preliminary information ......................................................... 38

3.4 Second round of interviews with relevant stakeholders ................................................. 38

Chapter 4. Interviews: presentation and analysis ..................................................................... 41

4.1 Presentation results interviews with the fishers .............................................................. 41

4.1.1 Present state .............................................................................................................. 41

4.1.2 History of the cooperatives ...................................................................................... 73

4.2.3 Future visions ........................................................................................................... 78

4.2 Second-level interviews with relevant stakeholders ....................................................... 83

4.2.1 Academia - Prof. Eduardo Rodriguez, Universidad Autonoma de Guerrero .......... 84

4.2.2 Local tourism operator - Johnny Adventures ........................................................... 89

4.2.3 International tourism operator - Playa Viva ........................................................... 101

4.2.4 Environmental NGO - Ballenas de Guerrero ........................................................ 107

4.2.5 Main observations .................................................................................................. 110

Chapter 5. Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 113

5.1 Final Remarks ............................................................................................................... 114

5.2 Limitations of the study ................................................................................................ 116

5.3 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 116

5.4 Further analysis............................................................................................................. 119

Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 121

Appendix #1 Questionnaire ................................................................................................... 129

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Maps

Map 1. ...................................................................................................................................... 23
Map 2. ...................................................................................................................................... 32
Map 3. ...................................................................................................................................... 43
Map 4. ...................................................................................................................................... 43

Tables

Table 1: Main differences between the two cooperatives analysed. ........................................ 52

Table 2: Main findings of the study. ...................................................................................... 113

Figures

Figure 1: FAO’s Blue Transformation Strategic Framework 2022-2031 (FAO, 2022) .......... 20
Figure 2: Initial conceptual map of the study. ......................................................................... 33
Figure 3: Age distribution ........................................................................................................ 37
Figure 4:Visual elicitation provided during the second round of interviews........................... 39
Figure 5: Puerto Xiaputica ....................................................................................................... 44
Figure 6: Playa La Barrita. ....................................................................................................... 44
Figure 7: Free diving equipment .............................................................................................. 46
Figure 8: Divers fishing for oysters ......................................................................................... 46
Figure 9: Bait fishing ............................................................................................................... 48
Figure 10: Artisanal fishing ..................................................................................................... 49
Figure 11: Artisanal fishing ..................................................................................................... 49
Figure 12: Main catches. .......................................................................................................... 53
Figure 13: Main catches ........................................................................................................... 55
Figure 14: Market .................................................................................................................... 58

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4
Abstract

Small-Scale Fisheries (SSFs) represent a vital component of coastal communities worldwide,

not only for the direct subsistence or economic income provided: they can play a significant
role in shaping the cultural dimension of societies. SSFs represent one of the most ancient
forms of interaction between humans and the ocean: fishers’ communities guard a profound
level of understanding of the territories also identified as their working space, and traditional
knowledge on how to manage these spaces, whose effectiveness can go far beyond the
quantitative studies on catches and landings that are used today to understand SSFs. Fishers
hold invaluable knowledge that needs to be preserved and considered. Their importance has
been extensively reported by international bodies in recent years, such as the United Nations
(UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable
Development. It is still difficult to define a detailed scenario of SSFs' impact on socio-
ecological coastal systems, but it may be the key to efficient Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)
processes, and to the overall development of a healthier relationship with the environment. The
present work investigates the complex relationships between human activities and coastal
marine ecosystems. This is the product of a 6-months internship experience conducted at the
eco-resort Playa Viva, located in a small coastal rural reality in the Mexican state of Guerrero,
between September 2022 and March 2023, as part of the regenerative project named ReSiMar
- Regenerando Sierra y Mar. The aim of the study is to investigate how SSFs can benefit from
tourism as a driver of development for small rural coastal realities, as the ones considered,
starting from the perspective of the fishers. This has been assessed through semi-structured
interviews, providing a socio-ecological overview of the state of SSFs in rural coastal
communities, taking into analysis the case study of two local cooperatives. The preliminary
stages of the research aim at understanding the actual state of the sector, its main challenges,
the history, and importance of the fishing activities in the area, and the future of the sector,
maintaining a transdisciplinary approach. The benefits of the collaboration between artisanal
fisheries and tourism have been analysed also from the point of view of tourism with a second
round of interviews that focused on representing the position of other relevant actors in the
area, including tourist operators, conservationists, and academia. Finally, a set of
recommendations and guidelines is provided, tackling the main challenges local fishers cope
with.

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6
Introduction

This work is the product of a 6-months internship experience conducted at the eco-resort Playa
Viva, located in a small coastal rural reality in the Mexican state of Guerrero, between
September 2022 and March 2023, as part of the regenerative project of the hotel named
ReSiMar - Regenerando Sierra y Mar. My interest was to investigate the complex relationships
between human activities and coastal marine ecosystems. Since one of the five nodes of action
of ReSiMar addresses sustainable fisheries, we decided to outline a case study on the Socio-
Ecological System Framework (SESF), to better understand challenges and opportunities for
the SSFs sector. The initial step consisted in organising interviews with fishers from the near-
by fishing cooperatives to comprehend their situation. The aim of the study was to investigate
the potential of tourism, in particular pescatourism, to answer the following research questions:
can SSFs benefit from tourism as a driver of development for small rural coastal realities, as
the one considered in this study? Could this impact the whole coastal community of which
fishers are part of? And if so, in which modalities can it be considered sustainable?
The benefits of the collaboration between artisanal fisheries and tourism have been analysed
also from the point of view of tourist businesses with a second round of interviews that focused
on representing the position of other relevant actors in the area, including tourist operators,
conservationist, and academia. The study was also conducted with the broader vision of
building knowledge on how SSFs as a sector can shape coastal communities and to give
evidence of its potentially determinant role in the recently elaborated and globally accepted
concept of Blue Growth and Blue Economy, benefiting local communities and the environment
at the same time.

The analysis is articulated in five chapters. The first one provides an introduction on the general
state of SSFs by presenting a scoping review, to identify the main themes revolving around
them, both in scientific literature and at international level. The second explores the national
dimension of SSFs in Mexico, introducing the specific case study area. Methodology can be
found in chapter 3. In the fourth, an in-depth discussion of the interviews conducted can be
found. The last chapter has been reserved to draw conclusions, bringing back the local
dimension analysed into a general discourse. Finally, a set of recommendations and guidelines
tackling the main challenges local fishers cope with is provided, with the purpose of

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contributing to build strong foundations for the broader vision of the sustainable fisheries' node
in development inside the project of ReSiMar.
In the actual scenario of climate crisis, it becomes a priority to validate with scientific evidence
those groups of individuals that do present a healthy connection with their surroundings, often
not valued from a merely economic point of view. In this sense, I believe the way in which we
relate with our territories is linked to the level of resilience we are able to develop, both as
individuals and as human communities.

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Chapter 1. Literature Review

1.1 SSFs relevance

Artisanal fisheries represent a vital component of coastal communities worldwide, not only for
the direct subsistence or economic income provided: they can play a significant role in shaping
the cultural dimension of societies. Their importance has been extensively reported by
international bodies in recent years, such as the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development. Globally, 40
percent of fisheries catches comes from SSF, generating an estimated average annual total
revenue of USD 77 billion, with USD 58 billion attributed to marine SSF (FAO et al., 2022, p.
4). Apart from their economic value, aquatic food systems have been recognized as one of the
most efficient solutions to meet the challenges of food security and environmental
sustainability (FAO et al., 2022), and could successfully target most of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030 if supported accordingly. In particular, if
we refer to goals 14 Life Below Water - also with a direct mention in goal 14.b - 8 Decent Work
and Economic Growth, 5 Gender Equality, 2 Zero Hunger, but also 11 Sustainable Cities and
Communities, 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, 13 Climate Action and 17
Partnership for the Goals.
SSFs represent one of the most ancient forms of interaction between humans and the ocean:
these communities guard a profound level of understanding of the territories also identified as
their working space, and traditional knowledge on how to manage these spaces, whose
effectiveness can go far beyond the quantitative studies on catches and landings that are used
today to access their activity. Overall, fishers hold invaluable knowledge that needs to be
preserved and considered. Even if it is still difficult to define a detailed scenario of SSFs' impact
on socio-ecological coastal systems, it may be the key to efficient Marine Spatial Planning
(MSP) processes, and to the overall development of a healthier relationship with the
environment surrounding us.

1.2 SSF in the scientific literature

A scoping review has been conducted to identify the main themes revolving around Small-
Scale Fisheries in scientific literature. Given the extended quantity of articles related to SSFs,

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the main thematic clusters especially inherent to this research have been identified and will be
presented in the next paragraphs. The articles have been recollected through the main scholar
search engines such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and Scopus, focusing on SSFs. In
particular, the research effort focused on the characterization of SSFs, policies and
implementations at the national level worldwide, and then on the inevitable interaction of SSFs
with other sectors, such as conservation, in the form of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), or
marine reserves, and anthropogenic activities, such as tourism, in its most different declinations
- for example, sustainable tourism, ecotourism, regenerative tourism, dive tourism,
pescatourism, but also wildlife tourism and mass tourism.

The most comprehensive review in literature has been conducted by Smith et al., in 2019. In
this paper is reported how SSFs have been characterised by the government and by scientific
literature: for what concern governments, the largest systematic study on the definition of SSFs
has been conducted by Chuenpagdee et al. (2006), who analysed the definitions of maritime
SSF in the national policies of 140 countries. “Their analysis illuminates the simultaneous
absence of clear definitions of SSF in many parts of the world, and yet an overall degree of
consistency in characteristics used, suggesting that sufficient commonalities exist to speak of
a generalized approach to defining SSF in policy.” (Smith et al., 2019). In the same article, it
has been highlighted that in the past (1960-1980s) the most common methods of defining SSF
in scientific research has been sociocultural dimensions. “One possible explanation for this
observation is that fisheries scientists focused on industrial fisheries and largely ignored SSF
during the rise of modern fisheries' science in the 1950–1980s, subscribing to a popular
development paradigm that assumed SSF would naturally evolve into or be replaced by an
industrial mode of production (Johnson, 2006; Carvalho et al., 2011). While SSF were
overlooked by fisheries scientists, who perhaps considered them too trifling to bother with,
social scientists dominated the sparse literature on SSF, published their research in social
science journals, and focused on understanding the sociocultural dimensions of SSF. Much of
this early work applied ethnographic observation to study SSF, offering descriptive, detailed
accounts of fishing methods (Craig, 1969; Mccay, 1978; Poggie, 1978; Poggie and Pollnac,
1988), studies of the social structure of fishing households and communities (Davidson and
Davidson, 1969; Breton, 1973; Yoshida et al., 1974; Davis, 1986), and of maritime culture
([Link], 1973; Bundy, 1977; Byron, 1988).” (Smith et al., 2019).
For a long time, the work of social scientists and fisheries scientists has developed in two
distinct dimensions. In more recent years, the need to join these two fields of inquiry became
10
a necessity. In the review conducted in 2018 by Partelow, et al., on the use of the newly
introduced concept of Social-Ecological System Framework (SESF) in different areas of
research, fisheries sciences have been highlighted as one of the most prominent fields of
inquiry. It must be pointed out that in recent years most of this research effort has been
concentrated in the Mediterranean basin, as a result of the growing interest of the European
Union to build scientific knowledge in this sector. As a result, always more publications started
questioning the use of traditional bio-economic metrics to define the impact of these sectors on
society, bringing a light on the “deep knowledge” held by local professionals (Said et al, 2020),
its importance in defining the category (Jentoft, 2020) and how to include it inside more
traditional methods of evaluation of this sector. Said et al., in 2018, suggested transdisciplinary
approach as the most comprehensive method of inquiry for SSFs, highlighting the importance
and difficulties of its application; this concept will be presented more in detail later, as it is one
of the most recent and well-established ways of doing research in SSFs.
In general, in the scientific community there is a low level of agreement on the role and use
that local communities have of the territory, not only in relation to marine spaces: the old
dominant assumption often recognized local traditional practices as environmentally
destructive, at times also against alternative explanations and contrary evidence (Gilbert et al.,
2013). On the other hand, the relevance of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) in shaping
social and environmental processes of rural communities has been increasingly recognized
(Marchessaux et al., 2023), even if the way to correctly include it in scientific studies is still
widely discussed, in particular when scientific ecological considerations are difficult to make,
in data-deficient scenarios (Campbell, 2020, Cisneros-Montemayor et al., 2022, Zetina-Rejón
et al., 2022). Overall, in recent years the concept of local community1 has been extensively
linked with SSFs (Jentoft, 2020). This has been particularly true since the holistic concept of
sustainability, which to be considered as such needs to account for social, economic and
ecological dimensions, started to take shape and be used in a wide range of applications.
Talking about marine spaces, the most prominent efforts of bringing sustainability into practice
are associated with Ecosystem-Based Management of Fisheries (Levin et al., 2015; Tochta et
al., 2018), and the relatively new concept of Marine Spatial Planning - MSP (Ntona and
Schröder, 2020).

1
The expression "local community" is often used in the literature on local development. The concept of community
in this study is linked to the geographical one, in the sense of a group of people sharing the same space, without
considering the community as a single subject but as a group of individuals with different interests, social
situations, and political visions.
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As highlighted by Ntona and Schröder (2020), MSP can be considered as the final product
representing the most inclusive effort of the scientific community, with the support of
governments, to ensure an equal and sustainable use of marine spaces: the discussion on how
to correctly understand the stakeholders involved, their power relationships and necessities is
still on-going. Inside this wide multidisciplinary context, conservation initiatives, SSFs - often
as representative of the local rural communities - and tourism always stand out, and the way in
which they relate to each other is often a matter of analysis (Fabinyi, 2008; Fabinyi, 2010;
Pongporat, 2011; Stevenson et al., 2013; Aguilar-Becerra et al., 2019; Bennett, 2019; Cohen et
al. 2019, Grantham, 2020).

An extensive literature has been produced in the past decades regarding the effectiveness of
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), often not only in terms of direct results in conservation.
Fabinyi in 2008 conducted a study breaking down the interaction between the three actors
mentioned above: it stands out that when tourism impacts massively, a lot of importance is
given to the ecological conservation of the site in question, leaving SSF trapped in between the
interests of the other two stakeholders. In 2020, Ntona and Schröder stated that in MSP efforts,
the concept of stakeholder is often broadly considered, and this leaves space to systemic power
imbalances between them: for example, local communities and their needs are often more
challenging to be taken into account than international Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs). The institution of MPAs and their consequences has been extensively studied, and as
of today we have abundant evidence of different situations and outcomes (Stevenson et al.,
2013, D’Anna, et al., 2016, Cohen et al., 2019, Bennett, et al., 2020, Di Franco et al., 2020).
As synthesised by Di Franco et al. (2016): “The use of MPAs can potentially create a “win-
win” situation where the challenges of conservation and SSF management can be resolved in
parallel. However, if benefits are over-stated and expectation are not reached, negative
stakeholder attitude can reduce compliance creating a negative cycle that further impairs the
performance of MPAs. Therefore, it is crucial to identify and highlight the characteristics (e.g.
environmental, economic and social attributes) that underline success of SSFs management
within MPAs, and leading to a win-win scenario.” (Di Franco et al., 2016). In 2019, Bennett et
al. analysed the importance of local support in conservation efforts, concluding that it can be
strongly related to the social impacts, and in general good governance of the MPA, perceived
from the communities as more important over the effective ecological benefits of the MPA:
“[...] “Small-scale fishermen's perceptions of ecological effectiveness, social impacts, and good
governance were all positively correlated with levels of support of small-scale fishermen for
12
MPAs. However, perceptions of good governance and social impacts were stronger predictors
of increasing support.” (Bennett et al., 2019).

Focusing on the interaction between SSFs and the tourism industry, often colliding inside
MPAs, the literature is rich in case studies of areas with high mass tourism presence (Fabinyi,
2008, Fabinyi, 2010, Stevenson et al., 2013). It seems clear that when these two realities share
the same spaces, issues arise around the establishment of the MPA, in particular based on the
different perspectives of the different stakeholders (Fabinyi, 2008). This can be linked again to
the importance of including SSF communities in the effectiveness of an MPA, as highlighted
by Di Franco et al. (2020).
SSF and tourism do not collide only in MPAs, where the main effort is conservation. For
example, the case of recreational fishing as ecotourism has been discussed by Ditton et al.
(2002): it is interesting to notice that it cannot be considered automatically ecotourism because
it involves activities in nature, but it must present peculiar features, such as catch-and-release
techniques, or when it is directly linked to local fishing communities. Sustainability in
ecotourism is a theme that has been widely addressed, as lately, it is common to consider
ecotourism in a broad and general way of “leisure activities conducted in nature”. In an
interesting paper published by Nájera-Gonzalez et al. (2019), methods on how to access
territory aptitude for alternative tourism have been analysed: to ensure sustainability in
ecotourism, the study of the territory is fundamental, better if conducted trying to represent the
majority of realities present in it. While we can state that fishing tourism is not always
necessarily considered sustainable (Ditton et al., 2002), or supportive of SSFs communities, on
the other hand, community-based fishing tourism can be considered a valid sustainable
alternative, as reported in the case study conducted by Su et al. (2017): “Community-based
Yujiale tourism, incorporating fishing culture and island lifestyles with tourism experiences,
has been developed on many islands in China and has achieved positive outcomes in boosting
regional economic development, enhancing island livelihood sustainability, and promoting and
reinforcing island identity. Yujiale tourism has thus been widely acknowledged as a suitable
development opportunity for island communities.” (Su et al., 2017).

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1.3 SSFs Challenges

Even with all their different declinations, SSF often face the same difficulties. The main ones
faced in the most recent year have been recognized and discussed by international bodies and
will be presented in this subchapter.

1.3.1 Representation

According to the FAO Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR) Working Group on
SSFs: “Small-scale fisheries can be broadly characterized as a dynamic and evolving sub-sector
of fisheries employing labour-intensive harvesting, processing and distribution technologies to
exploit marine and inland water fishery resources. The activities of this subsector, conducted
full-time or part-time, or just seasonally, are often targeted on supplying fish and fishery
products to local and domestic markets, and for subsistence consumption” (FAO, 2020, p.33)
It can be difficult to specifically determine SSFs because of their numerous declinations around
the world. According to Chuenpagdee et al. (2006), whose study analysed the definitions of
maritime SSF in the national policies of 140 countries, only 70% of countries provided a clear
definition of the activity, and the most commonly used parameter have been the boat length,
present in 65% of the definitions.
This often results in a lack of representation, because of the additional difficulties of getting
involved in national and global decision-making processes. Moreover, SSFs communities
commonly suffer from unequal power relations (Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable
Small-Scale Fisheries, FAO, 2015): on the other hand, large-scale commercial fisheries strive
in the legislative dimension, mostly because of their extended economic resources, and
consequently also the possibility of hiring professionals to represent them as a sector. The
different possibilities of these two categories end up generating what are the main challenges
of SSFs, globally recognized as a) lack of representation at the policymaking level, b) lack of
consideration inside regulatory provisions c) competition with large-scale fisheries, d)
restricted access to rights and markets, and e) increased exposure to competition from global
markets (FAO, 2015).

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1.3.2 Assessment

“Indeed, small-scale fisheries tend to be strongly anchored in local communities, reflecting

often historic links to adjacent fishery resources, traditions and values, and supporting social
cohesion. For many small-scale fishers and fish workers, fisheries represent a way of life and
the sub-sector embodies a diverse and cultural richness that is of global significance.” (FAO,
2015). Starting from this citation from the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable
Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication, we can observe
that while SSFs’ importance has been extensively reported in recent years, the level of
understanding of the sector still lacks widely recognized fundamental instruments to validate
its value, in particular for what concerns their relevance at the community level. As of today,
the most used methods of inquiry for subsequent decision-making processes rely on
bioeconomic metrics that often fail in representing a holistic view of the activity impacts (Said
et al., 2020).

SSFs’ catches are difficult to properly access in terms of weight, and their contribution to
national economies seems to be low due to the value of the product extracted, and therefore not
relevant. Moreover, the category is generally considered more vulnerable to a wide set of
challenges, exacerbated by the always-growing effects of climate change on coastal systems,
in particular when we refer to low-income countries. All these factors strongly affect their
competitiveness in global markets. On the other hand, as said by Malorgio et al. (2017): “Quite
often, the same reasons that seem to make small-scale fisheries uncompetitive also can make
them resilient.” (Malorgio et al., 2017, p. 19)

Given all this information, it becomes fundamental to understand how to include the
unmeasurable value of this sector in shaping coastal communities and culture worldwide inside
legislative instruments, to ensure their fair representation. As reported by Said et al. (2020):
“Taking a transdisciplinary approach to research, training, and learning about small-scale
fisheries can help address real-world problems and reveal opportunities to move towards
pragmatic solutions.” Transdisciplinarity is key when talking about coastal systems: it can be
identified as “a process where knowledge is produced by bringing together the understanding
of the natural, social, and governance domains, in a way that transcends each of their traditional
boundaries. Innovation and transformation, also of the way we do sciences, may emerge as an
outcome.” (Adapted by Said et al., 2018 from Choi and Pak, 2006). In 2017, as part of the “Too
15
Big To Ignore” (TBTI) research cluster, Aguilar-Perera, et al, identified three fundamental
principles of transdisciplinary research:

(i) Approach Principles - holistic, multi-scale and systemic approaches as keys in framing
problems and address them accordingly: “[...] Transdisciplinarity should facilitate the flow of
information necessary to provide timely and effective responses to local and urgent situations,
strengthening local organizations, with an aim to enhancing quality of life and social wellbeing.
Since addressing fisheries problems is not a task of a single person or any one discipline, skill
sharing is needed for ongoing problem-solving through collaborative, adaptive, interactive, and
context-dependent processes.” (Said, et al., 2018)

(ii) Personal Trait Principles - human personality traits importance in transdisciplinary

research. In particular: “Being empathic is clearly indispensable, since individuals need to be
receptive and able to see problems from multiple perspectives and value the different opinions
that develop through the process. Also, a positive attitude towards teaching, learning, and
transforming is necessary, especially since transdisciplinary research ventures into complex
and dynamic contexts that are difficult to pin down and can create frustration.” (Said et al.,
2018)

(iii) Process Principles - “transdisciplinary research should be a flexible approach that

emphasises social learning, experimentation, and an attitude of ‘learning by doing’ in complex
systems.” (Griffith, 2010, as mentioned in Said et al., 2018).

Knowing that the implementation of this method can bring a different set of challenges, here
are reported the main ones identified (a) the process of problem Identification and framing, (b)
trust and legitimacy Issues in co-design of solutions, (c) lack of integration across knowledge
types, (d) dilemmas for transdisciplinary researchers (Said et al., 2018). Overall, even if it can
be stated that this represents the most prominent method of inquiry in the study of complex
socio-ecological systems such as SSF, it is important to point out that this kind of research are
difficult to carry on due to lack of stable funding, often bringing researchers to focus on more
traditional techniques (Said et al., 2018).

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1.4 Synergies with other sectors

Despite the general marginalisation of SSFs, it is interesting to see how it interacts, or

potentially could, with other sectors, in particular for what concerns the inclusion inside Marine
Spatial Planning (MSP) efforts. In the previous paragraph, we already presented the main
implications of SSFs interacting with the conservation sector from the point of view of MPAs
and environmental protection. In this section, we will focus on the relationship between the
category analysed and the other most important human sector it interacts with: tourism. In the
next paragraph we will stress how the relatively new concepts of sustainable tourism and
ecotourism can overlap with the older and extensively analysed wildlife tourism.

1.4.1 Tourism

Being the second most important economic driver worldwide, tourism is highlighted by many
frameworks as one of the most prominent opportunities for future development. For example,
in the EU Blue Growth, coastal and maritime tourism represents one of the five main pillars.
Moreover, the concept of sustainable tourism has been recognized from the resolution
A/RES/77/178 of the UN General Assembly as follows: “[…] sustainable tourism, including
ecotourism, is a cross-cutting activity that can contribute to the three dimensions of sustainable
development and the achievement of the SDGs, including by fostering economic growth,
alleviating poverty, creating full and productive employment and decent work for all,
accelerating the change to more sustainable consumption and production patterns and
promoting the sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources, promoting local culture,
improving the quality of life and the economic empowerment of women and young people,
Indigenous Peoples and local communities and promoting rural development and better living
conditions for rural populations, including small-holder and family farmers". (UN, 2022, p. 3)
Sustainable tourism has also been defined by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
as: “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and
environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host
communities”. While, as mentioned, ecotourism seems to fall under the bigger umbrella of
sustainable tourism, the conceptualization of the two are not well-delineated: “Ecotourism is a
concept driven by demand from tourists, while sustainable tourism incorporates measures to
conserve the environment from the supply side, meaning by tourism service providers.”
(Dolnicar & Leisch, 2007, as cited in Khanra et al., 2021). Many publications over the past
17
decades questioned the intrinsic sustainability of ecotourism: in the paper written by Nájera
Gonzalez et al. (2020), outlined how territory aptitude for different types of alternative tourism
can be assessed through three different methods: 1) research based on natural and
socioeconomic resource inventories, 2) research based on the natural system only and use of
GIS, and 3) research based on natural and socioeconomic system with the support of the use of
GIS. As stated by the authors: “It is this last category that presents more complex works
following the theory of sustainability and the objectives pursued by alternative tourism.”
(Nájera Gonzalez et al., 2020)
The concept of sustainable development through tourism has been lately related to the one of
community-based tourism, as highlighted in 2021 by Lee et al.: “Community-based tourism
has been widely identified for its ability to improve local economies, and it has been introduced
in many countries” (Lee et al., 2021). This kind of tourism is of particular interest for our study,
because of its focus on experiencing a territory through the people that live in it. However, as
highlighted by Pongporat et al. in 2011: “Tourism [...] often has negative impacts on local
communities and ecosystems. It is often argued that it threatens and destroys local tradition,
means of livelihood and self-reliance because it creates dependency on a market over which
the communities have no control (Abbott, 1995; Aronsson, 2000; Ashley, Roe, & Goodwin,
2001; Guysoy & Rutherford, 2004; Harrison, 1992; International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives, 1999; Jamal & Getz, 1995; Jamieson, 2001; Oppermann, 1993;
Parnwell, 1993; Singh, 1989).” (Pongporat et al., 2011). Because of this, it became extremely
important to understand how to transfer benefits derived from tourism to the people living in
the areas. Community participation has been analysed in this same study, as it can be related
to different processes, such as “decentralization, local democratization, spreading decision-
making among local organizations, community involvement and civil society debate (Foret,
2001; Jalali, 2002; Post, 1997). Community participation usually begins with a bottom-up
approach involving major stakeholder groups.” (Pongporat et al., 2011).

Indeed, on the other side of the tourism industry, we have fishing activities, such as recreational
fishing, what is known also as “Big Game Fishing”, and pescatourism. In a comprehensive
publication on wildlife tourism made by Higginbottom (2004), fishing tourism is described as
the marine equivalent of hunting, and as such should be considered when thinking about its
impacts. It is difficult to determine the effective sustainability of these experiences: Ditton et
al. (2002) investigated recreational fishing in the United States of America, concluding that it
cannot always be considered ecotourism, but only in the case of “catch and release” practices
18
and activities that involve the local fishing community. From this, we can conclude that fishing
tourism could be considered sustainable when it directly engages with local communities and
practices, as in the successful case described by Su et al. (2017) of Yujiale fishing tourism in
the Changshan Archipelago, in Changdao, China.

To conclude this paragraph, another concept interesting to mention for the nature of the
research is the one of regenerative tourism. “Regenerative tourism departs from the sustainable
development paradigm by positioning tourism activities as interventions that develop the
capacities of places, communities and their guests to operate in harmony with interconnected
social-ecological systems.” (Bellato et al., 2022). While it is still unclear how to successfully
achieve this kind of experience, it is important to point out that rural socio-ecological systems
are complex and unique frameworks, and it is very difficult to have a “one-size fits all” formula
for different locations around the world. The case study analysed in this work will explore one
of these attempts, also given the importance of building knowledge on how to create these
ambitious realities and conceptualise the process.

1.5 Transition to a Blue Economy

As anticipated, over the last decades there has been a strong attempt from the international
community to elevate the importance of SSFs in national policies. In this paragraph, we will
report a brief overview of the most recent instruments and how they plan to operate in the
upcoming years to support the category, in particular for what concerns the synergies with other
relevant sectors, such as the tourism industry.
The most recently published framework is the FAO Blue Transformation Plan. As defined in
the Blue Transformation Roadmap 2022–2030: “Blue Transformation is a targeted effort by
which agencies, countries and dependent communities, use existing and emerging knowledge,
tools and practices to secure and sustainably maximize the contribution of aquatic (both marine
and inland) food systems to food security, nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all. It builds
on existing successes while providing a framework to overcome sustainability challenges”
(FAO, 2022). In accordance with the 2021 Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and
Aquaculture redacted by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), the three main Aquatic
Food Systems to work on are a) Sustainable Aquaculture b) Sustainable Fisheries and c)
Sustainable Trade and Value Chain. Starting from this, the Blue Transformation Strategic

19
Framework identified four main nodes of action: production, nutrition, environment, and life,
with related sub-objectives (FIG. 1).

Figure 1: the 4 main nodes of actions with the respective sub-goals of FAO’s Blue Transformation Strategic
Framework 2022-2031 (FAO, 2022)

Ideally, SSFs could be related to all the initial three pillars. Practically, in the strategic
framework resumed in four main nodes, it is unclear where they are being targeted.
Even if as reported by Smith, et al. (2019): "It’s not clear that any definition of SSF is inherently
preferable to no definition, nor that any given definition of SSF will lead to homogeneously
good or bad outcomes for the diverse workers and environments of SSF at different scales”,
we can grasp in this example the relevance of it. All four nodes identified could be related to
SSF, as much as they could be related to the impacts generated by the large-scale sector: the
bigger responsibility on how this will be implemented relies upon the national-level perception
of this global roadmap.

- Blue Growth Framework in the European Union

Recently, in the European Union (EU) the theme has been addressed numerous times. The most
recent result is the EU Blue Growth Strategy, aiming at “supporting sustainable growth in all
marine and maritime sectors as part of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth”. The framework identifies five main pillars to work on in future years:
aquaculture, coastal and maritime tourism, marine biotechnology, renewable ocean energy, and
marine mineral mining, without specific reference to the fisheries sector. In fact, it is reported

20
that a) the fastest growth is expected to occur in offshore wind energy, aquaculture, fish
processing and port activities, b) fisheries production is expected to expand, but primarily
driven by aquaculture and c) production from capture fisheries will remain more or less flat.
This being said, the growth in some sectors seems to be at the expense of other traditional
sectors, such as fishing.
Throughout the program document, it is stressed that it will deliver on “environmental, social
and economic goals” and it continuously mentions the need “to be sensitive to different
objectives – from ensuring the human well-being of fisher communities to ensuring wealth
creation and investment in order to appeal to private sector actors. […] safeguard the interests
of everyone involved in fisheries – from small-scale fisherfolk to the private sectors”. Given
all these factors, it must be pointed out the interest from the private sector and investors in the
transition to the blue economy, and that SSF usually does not have a strong-enough voice to be
able to influence the reform process (Wakefield et al., 2016). Once again in this case, as pointed
out by Benjaminsen & Bryceson, et al., (2012): “Despite Blue Growth proponents’ general
claims of ‘pro-poor’, ‘benefit-sharing’ and ‘win-win’ opportunities of these schemes, the
winners and losers are determined at the local level”.

21
22
Chapter 2. Case study Area: Costa Grande, Guerrero, Mexico

In order to understand the socio-economic and ecological dynamics of SSFs cooperatives in

rural coastal communities and the potential sustainable application of ecotourism activities,
such as pescatourism, this study will focus its analysis on two SSFs cooperatives located in the
municipality of Petatlan, in the coastal area of the Costa Grande region of the Mexican state of
Guerrero. The cooperatives are based in small rural communities located in the middle of
popular tourist destinations, such as Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa and Acapulco (MAP 1), but not
equipped with organised structures and connections to develop their own touristic potential.

Map 1: location of the SSF cooperatives analysed in the study and important tourism destinations, such as
Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa and Acapulco, in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

The lack of a complete analysis of these SSFs' realities leads to a misunderstood category, not
able to relate to other expanding economic realities expanding in a way that could actually
benefit them. This makes the subject of analysis extremely relevant to answer the research
questions. Indeed, all these factors could lead to a poor inclusion of the needs of the category
in MSP efforts, and the lack of support received from the government could rapidly translate

23
to social division and arising challenges. In the next few paragraphs, we will try to give a brief
overview of the complex governmental situation that regulates SSFs in Mexico at a federal
level, as well as the state of Guerrero and the peculiar region analysed.

2.1 Governmental Framework: Mexico

With an extension of more than 11000 kilometres of coastline and more than 3 million square
kilometres of maritime surface, much larger than its continental surface of 1 959 248 km 2
(DOF. 2018, p.1), Mexico is the 16th most important country worldwide for marine captures,
representing 2% of the world catches, and its production is expecting a growth of 7,3% in 2030,
compared to the 2020 catches, going from 1780 000 tonnes of live-weight equivalent to 1910
000 (FAO, 2021, p.67). A large percentage of the Mexican population lives in coastal areas:
according to Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020 (INEGI, 2021), the total population of the
coastal states in Mexico was of 57 919 913 inhabitants - 45.96% of the national total - 5.9
million more than in 2010 and 13.3 million more than in 2000, and it is expected that by the
year 2030 it will increase to 64.1 million (DOF, 2018). As reported by the FAO State of the
World Fisheries Report, Mexico is one of the main countries in the American continent for the
reported number of motorised and non-motorised vessels below 12 metres-length, respectively
6 1294 and 13 612 (FAO, 2021).

2.1.1. Estrategia de Instrumentación para una Economía Oceánica Sostenible

The ESTRATEGIA DE INSTRUMENTACIÓN PARA UNA ECONOMÍA OCEÁNICA

SOSTENIBLE EN MÉXICO 2021–2024 (EIEOS) is a document published in 2021 that resumes
all the provisions Mexico is taking to achieve a sustainable ocean economy, representing one
of the main references for this study. As reported, the country is a member of the High-Level
Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (HLPSOC), and recently joined the High Ambition
Coalition for Nature and People (HAC), the Global Initiative against Ghost Netting (GGGI),
and participates in the Group of Experts on Marine Debris of the United Nations Environment
Program, among some relevant initiatives. In addition, it is an active participant in the UN
Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 and is in the process of
negotiating an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use
of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. In accordance with the
HLPSOC’s main commitment, Mexico set the ambitious goal to develop an integrated
24
management of 100% of marine spaces under national jurisdiction by 2025, and following the
HAC 30x30 initiative, committed to protect 30% of its water before 2030. In the process of
redacting the EIEOS, an effort to identify the main priorities for the period 2021-2024 was
made. Among the others:

● Stop the net loss of coastal ecosystems and seafarers, in particular fundamental
ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, kelp beds, sand dunes, reefs,
and deep ocean ecosystems, increasing their extension and improving their actual state.
● Eradicate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing by encouraging the use
of the latest innovations and technologies — such as digital traceability and
Traceability NOM 038 — to increase transparency, strengthen monitoring, control and
surveillance, improve control of flag States, effectively implement the Agreement on
Port State Measures, and enable better collaboration between all stakeholders in the
supply chain.
● Establish and effectively manage MPAs and other effective area-based conservation
measures (Fisheries Refuge Zones), which conserve biodiversity while offering
climatic, food, socio-economic and cultural benefits.
● Create an inclusive governance and co-management culture (co-management),
incorporating the knowledge and interests of the local and indigenous community,
particularly women and youth, in the planning and decision-making processes.
● Use nature-based solutions in coastal infrastructure planning and development to
reduce grey infrastructure where possible, and incentivize its use to capture and store
carbon and improve coastal resilience.
● Recognize and respect the interests of coastal communities and the rights of Indigenous
Peoples, and implement policies that require consideration of the particular
importance of marine resources to these groups.
(Gobierno de México, 2021, EIEOS, p.69-70)

It is interesting to consider these provisions to be able to compare them with the perspective of
the fishers at the end of the study. They can also represent a relevant starting point for drawing
final recommendations and guidelines.

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2.1.2 Ley General de Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables

The main instrument for fisheries in Mexico is a general law known as Ley General de Pesca
y Acuacultura Sustentables (LGPAS). It regulates all the activities at the national level since
2007, and was updated for the last time in January 2023. If we analyse it, we can notice that
even if a series of very detailed definitions are present - for example one for rural aquaculture
is provided under article 4 - it is impossible to find a definition for small-scale or artisanal
fisheries. The only ones being extensively defined are the following fishing categories:
commercial (par. XXVIII), recreational (par. XXIX), scientific (par. XXXII), didactic (par.
XXX), and domestic consumption (XXXI). While domestic consumption fishing can be
considered SSF, it leaves out the whole commercial production coming from the sector,
implying that commercial SSF must fall under commercial fishing. In accordance with
worldwide trends, the only related definition we can find is the one for “Small Vessel”, in par.
XVII, defined as follows: “fishing unit with or without an outboard motor and with a maximum
total length of 10.5 metres; with or without ice-based catch conservation system and with a
maximum autonomy of 3 days.2”

As highlighted by Suasnávar et al.: “In Mexico, despite the fact that the fishing legislation and
its public policies have moved towards co-governance in the management and use of marine
resources, the implementation process falls mostly under the jurisdiction of the State. In
addition to this, the LGPAS presents a deficit of information on the evidence of implementation
that is restricted by government transparency, which limits the participation of citizens in the
evaluation of public policy and indicates the level of centralization that exists in the sector.”
(Suasnávar et al., 2022)

2.1.3 Carta Nacional Pesquera (CNP)

The third chapter of the law focuses on the National Fishing Charter - Carta Nacional Pesquera
(CNP) - an instrument defined as “the cartographic and written presentation that contains the
summary of the necessary information for the diagnosis and integral evaluation of the fishing
and aquaculture activity, as well as the indicators on the availability and conservation of the
fishing and aquaculture resources, in waters of federal jurisdiction. Its content will be

2
translated by the author.
26
informative for the productive sectors and will be binding in the decision-making of the fishing
authority in the adoption and implementation of instruments and measures for the control of
fishing effort, in the resolution of applications for concessions and permits to carry out fishing
and aquaculture activities, and in the implementation and execution of actions and measures
related to said administrative acts.” (translated from DOF, LGPAS, p.23). Despite it is
supposed to be reviewed every year, the CNP has only been updated five times since its
establishment in 2000, as reported in the assessment produced by the NGO Oceana México -
Pescar sin datos (Garcia-Peña Valenzuela, 2019), and mainly with outdated and non-
transparent, often publicly not available information.

Around 99% of the CNP files present an incomplete and partial summary of each fishery,
making the information unreliable and putting the extraction of resources at risk due to lack of
information (Garcia-Peña Valenzuela, 2019). Moreover, a problem has been reported from the
same analysis in the categorization of the species: “the same species can appear in more than
one record, as is the case of grouper, red snapper and sea bass, which, despite having their own
records, also appear, along with hundreds of other species, in the general catches tab. This
organisational error could have fatal consequences if an overexploited species were to be
placed in a category that does allow its exploitation.” (Garcia-Peña Valenzuela, 2019, p. 13)

2.1.4 Zonas de Refugio Pesquero

Referring to the potential synergy of SSF and conservation efforts, in 2014 the Mexican
government introduced a new instrument known as Zonas de Refugio Pesquero (ZRP) -
Fisheries Refuge Zones - defined in article 4 of the LGPAS as “Delimited areas, with the
purpose of conserving and contributing, naturally or artificially, to the development of fishing
resources for the purpose of their reproduction, growth or recruitment, as well as preserving
and protecting the surrounding environment”, and it is regulated by the Official Mexican
Normative NOM-049-SAG/PESC-2014. The instrument refers to more than 130 species,
including target, secondary and incidental catches, and even if it could seem similar to an MPA,
the concept differs from it for different reasons. In particular, a) the covered area is generally
smaller, b) the validity is limited and subject to periodical renewal, c) fewer limitations
regarding fishing activities, d) lower implementation costs, e) usually proposed by the
productive sector instead of being imposed by the government, and f) more adaptable to the

27
necessities of the SSFs sector - as stated by the Dirección General de Ordenamiento Pesquero
y Acuícola [consulted on 18/02/2023].
As highlighted by the ONG Causanatura, ZRPs are “collaborative fishing management
instruments” that can “empower the fishermen of the communities for decision-making and the
sustainable use of their natural heritage.”. In 2019, Mexico counted 14 ZRP, with a total
extension of 2 052 488 hectares, located in five States: Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora,
Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. All these states are generally identified as richer, with strong mass-
tourism fluxes.

2.1.5 SSF Cooperatives in Mexico

Cooperatives at national level are regulated under the Ley General de Sociedades
Cooperativas, updated for the last time in 2018, where they are defined as: “social organisations
formed by individuals with common interests, based on principles of solidarity, individual
efforts, and mutual assistance for the purpose of satisfying individual and collective needs,
through the realisation of economic activities of production, distribution, and consumption of
goods and services.'' (Gubierno de Mexíco, 2018). In particular, there are three types of
cooperatives in Mexico: consumers of goods and services, producers of goods and services,
and savings and credit. SSFs cooperatives are part of the second group, “whose members
associate to work together in the production of goods and/or services, contributing their
personal, physical or intellectual work. Regardless of the type of production to which they are
dedicated, these companies will be able to store, preserve, transport and market their products.”
(Instituto Nacional de la Economía Social, 2022). As reported by García Lozano, et al. (2019),
cooperatives of producers have been a traditional organisational model for artisanal fisheries
in Mexico: “[...] The history of cooperativism in Mexican fisheries is similarly embedded in a
history of state-led development and intervention. Starting in the 1920s, post-revolutionary
governments incentivized the formation of cooperatives by granting them fishing permits and
exclusive access rights over some species (formalised in the Law of Fisheries of 1947), and
later in the 1970s, low-interest loans distributed by a national fisheries bank (BANPESCA).
However, neoliberal policies in Mexico have drastically shifted these incentives, opening up
the fishing sector to private investment as cooperatives lost exclusive access rights after the
Law of Fisheries of 1992. [...] In addition, the bankruptcy of BANPESCA in the 1980s
negatively impacted cooperatives’ access to capital, which has made them vulnerable to private
competitors. Cooperativism developed into an important form of collective action in Mexico,
28
partly because cooperative firms overcome high transaction costs associated with
commercialization of landings, and they facilitate collective access to fishing rights and
government benefits. Cooperatives are also important for the provision of other services (e.g.,
freshwater, road infrastructure) in coastal communities.” (García Lozano, et al., 2019)
As of today, local SSFs cooperatives organize in regional federations and national-level
confederations. This allows them to obtain a better representation when it comes to national
decision-making processes.

2.2 Statal Scale: Guerrero

Geographically speaking, the state of Guerrero is located in the southern region of the Mexican
Republic. Its territorial extension is 64 282 km2 and corresponds to 3.3% of the national
territory. Its coastal region extends for more than 500 km, and is part of the marine ecoregion
of the Mexican Tropical Pacific, inside the largest Tropical Eastern Pacific Marine Province.
More in detail, this specific region is recognized as the Central Mexican Pacific (CMP) region
and is characterized by a narrow continental shelf, generated by the sliding of the Cocos
tectonic plate under the North American plate. From an administrative point of view, the coastal
strip of the state is divided into three regions from north to south, the Costa Grande, Acapulco
and Costa Chica.

In 2020, Guerrero counted more than 3.6 million inhabitants, with 65.5% of the population in
a situation of poverty, and 26.8% of the population living in a situation of extreme poverty
(Medición de la Pobreza, CONEVAL, 2018). The state is mainly characterized by small rural
communities that base their economy on agriculture, livestock, and fishing.

As reported in the Plan regional de Desarollo 2022-2027 (Government of Guerrero, 2021) for
more than three decades tourism has been the strongest economic driver of the state, with the
strongest tourists presence in what is known as the "Triangle of the Sun" formed by Acapulco,
Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo and Taxco, known as consolidated tourist destinations, at both national and
international level. With three mature tourist destinations and 44 municipalities identified as
potentially attractive for the sector, an effort to diversify the regional tourist offer has been
attempted. Still, as of today, there are no consolidated municipalities other than the ones
introduced.

29
Guerrero presents one of the most important biodiversity hotspots of the country, counting 262
endemic species (Villaseñor and Ortiz, 2014; Villaseñor, 2016). Referring to species
considered of high priority for conservation, in Guerrero, there are at least 26 species
considered by SEMARNAT as priority species, among them also four populations of sea turtles,
that nest on the coast. However, in recent years the protection of these species has been
principally focused on a limited number of species, for example, sea turtles, which are being
studied and protected mainly by private entities, such as environmental NGOs and civil
associations known as campamentos tortugueros, along the coast (Plan regional de Desarollo
2022-2027, Government of Guerrero, 2021). This natural phenomenon happening every year
is also identified as tourism drivers.

2.3 Municipal Scale: Petatlán

The municipality of Petatlán, located in the coastal area of the Costa Grande region, features a
coastal corridor of approximately 60 km, which goes from Barra de Potosí to Puerto Vicente
(this town already belongs to the municipality of Tecpan de Galeana). This corridor is part of
the priority marine region No. 31 Piedra de Tlacoyunque decreed by the National Commission
for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) which also highlights a limited
knowledge concerning its biodiversity, for which it is necessary to carry out research to
generating knowledge and providing information on ecological aspects of the marine and
coastal resources of this region. Due to the influence of marine currents, the geographical
position, the narrowness of the continental shelf and the coastal topography in this region, a
variety of habitats developed, such as sandy beaches, river mouths, stony coastal areas, rocky
coral reefs, estuaries and lagoons with mangrove cover, home to a great diversity of species.

The coast is characterized by a system of rivers, streams, and lagoons, which are separated
from the ocean by sandbars, locally called barras. Also, mangrove forests develop along these
coastlines, generating major areas of wetlands, essential for sustaining the region's biodiversity
and productivity.
The fishing resources in this coastal strip have been a source of food and an important source
of economic income, however, many of these have been exploited in an irregular and disorderly
manner, which has given rise to the low growth of the activity, the degradation of natural
resources and the existence of an unfavourable economic environment, since excessive demand
generates a high fishing effort, greater than what the resources can support.
30
According to official information from INAPESCA and specific investigations of the Costa
Grande, the main fishing resources reported for this region are fishes and molluscs; fishing is
carried out under the multi-specific context, due to the number of species that make up the
catch; In this sense, the composition of the catch on the Costa Grande is made up of 42 species,
the most important target species being the red snapper (Lutjanus peru), stone oyster and
octopus (Octopus sp.), the grunt (Haemulon flaviguttatum), snapper (Lutjanus argentiventris),
sharks (Carcharhiniformes), cocinero (Caranx caballus) and horse mackerel (Caranx caninus).
As secondary importance species we find catfishes, flamencos (Lutjanus guttatus) and snooks,
along with 31 other species.
Finally, it is relevant to highlight that this municipality is one of the forty-four identified as
potentially attractive for the tourism sector in the Statal Development Plan of Guerrero for
2022-2027.

2.4 The Cooperatives

Along this coastal strip, are present 9 fishing communities, based in Barra de Potosí, Playa
San Valentín, San Valentín, Los Achiotes, Juluchuca, La Barrita, El Cayacal and Puerto
Vicente de Guerrero (MAP 2); These localities mainly depend on various economic activities
related to rain-fed agriculture, livestock, tourism and fishing (marine and lagoon). The products
obtained from this activity are used for self-consumption, local, regional and in some cases
international trade, with different prices depending on the commercial category of the species.
Although some communities are organized in cooperatives, the support in resources of federal
origin is limited, for which there is no development evolution to support management,
investment, as well as social cohesion.
The information collected and analysed in this study focuses on the fishing activity of the
communities closest to the work area: Juluchuca, a community without a fishing cooperative,
and the two neighbouring communities of La Barrita and El Cayacal.

31
Map 2:location of the fishing communities in the study area. In blue, the SSF cooperatives taken into
consideration for the case study.

32
Chapter 3: Methodology

3.1 Case study

The main purpose of this study was to give back a Social-Ecological System Framework
(SESF) of the case study area. This is possibly the most comprehensive conceptual framework
for diagnosing interactions and outcomes in social-ecological systems (SES), extensively used
to analyse SSFs (Partelow, S. 2018). The conceptual map for the study is represented below.
As conceptualized by Partelow, S. (2018), this analysis can be described as a qualitative
characterization of the case study, that provides a focused analysis of it, with the benefit
potential for in-depth analysis and a discursive understanding. In order to provide a socio-
ecological overview of the state of SSFs in rural coastal communities and to answer the
research question related to the potential of tourism, and in particular pescatourism, as a driver
for the local economy, the methodology preferred was the analysis of a case study. The fishers’
perspective has been assessed through semi-structured interviews (Flowerdew and Martin,
1997), aiming at understanding the actual state of the sector, its main challenges, the history,
and importance of the fishing activities in the area, and the future of the sector. After, a second
round of non-structured interviews has been conducted with relevant stakeholders, to represent
their point of view on the research question. The initial conceptual framework used as a starting
point is represented here below (FIG. 2).

Figure 2: Initial conceptual map of the study. Courtesy of the author.

33
The analysis took place over a 6-months period based in the rural locality of Juluchuca, during
an internship at the regenerative travel destination Playa Viva, an eco-boutique hotel run on the
principle of regenerative tourism, with a focus on its sustainability and its impact, that is
developing social and environmental projects with the close-by communities. In particular, the
interviews made with fishers were made based on an initial set of questions elaborated for the
development of a new node of action focused on sustainable fisheries in 2021. The final guide
for the interviews was made up of eighteen questions that sought to inquire into 4 main thematic
areas (Annex #1):

a) current status of the fishing activity (questions 1-12 and question 14),
b) fishing history: past, present, and future visions (question 13),
c) relationship with the tourism sector (questions 15 and 16)
d) relationship with the mangroves (questions 17-19)

The last two sets of questions c) and d), have been added up only to the cooperatives already
active, after an initial round of five interviews, conducted in the community of Juluchuca,
because of the reason better explained in the next section.

The analysis was carried out with the aforementioned structure in the communities closest to
the work area: Juluchuca, a community without a fishing cooperative, and the two neighbouring
communities of La Barrita and El Cayacal. After an initial round of five interviews conducted
in February-March 2022 with independent fishers of the community of Juluchuca3 which
constituted a base, because of its closeness to the main contact point with the coastal
community, the focus shifted to the fishing activity of the two SSF cooperatives “Buzos y
Pescadores - La Barrita” and “Producción Pesquera y de Servicios - El Cayacal”. These
cooperatives were selected due to two main reasons: a) they are one of the smallest cooperatives
in the region and are closer to the main work area, and b) they are fishing cooperatives
characterized by their sustainable fishing practices.

3
These interviews have not been conducted by the author.
34
 3.2 Interviews

Semi-structured interview has been identified as the most efficient method of inquiry inside the
communities, as the aim was to deeply understand the individual point of view of the fishers,
and not to generally grasp the situation of the category. As reported in the methodology book
Methods in Human Geography, by Flowerdew and Martin (1997): “Eyles (1988) describes an
interview as 'a conversation with a purpose’. The advantage of this approach is that it is
sensitive and people-oriented, allowing interviewees to construct their own accounts of their
experiences by describing and explaining their lives their own words. This sort of conversation
offers the chance for the researcher and interviewee to have a far more wide-ranging discussion
than a questionnaire would allow. In the course of the interview, researchers have the chance
to go back over the same ground, asking the same questions in different ways in order to explore
issues thoroughly; and interviewees can explain the complexities and contradictions of their
experiences and can describe the mundane details of their everyday lives (Bryman, 1988). One
of the additional strengths of this approach is that it allows respondents to raise issues that the
interviewer may not have anticipated (Silverman, 1993). The material generated in this way is
rich, detailed and multi-layered (Burgess, 1984), producing 'a deeper picture' than a
questionnaire survey (Silverman, 1993: 15). It is analysed using a textual approach, relying on
words and meanings, rather than statistics.” (Flowerdew and Martin, 1997, p. 111). Given the
cooperative nature of the realities analysed, potential informants have been recruited following
two main ways: initially through contacting gatekeepers, identifying these figures in the
presidents of the cooperatives. In doing this, it is important to keep in consideration that when
we rely on gatekeepers for an introduction to members of a social group, it is relevant to try
and understand whether “they do not try to direct you to a narrow selection of the members
(probably their friends) and discourage you from talking to others.” (Flowerdew and Martin,
1997, p. 116). To avoid this from happening, after gaining confidence with the fishers,
snowballing has been used as main methods of recruitment. Snowballing refers to “using one
contact to help you recruit another contact, who in turn can put you in touch with someone
else” (Flowerdew and Martin, 1997, p. 117). As mentioned above, precise questions - not
necessarily asked in the order listed - have been preferred for the interviews, instead of a list of
general themes to discuss, mainly because of the initial uncertainty of the researcher in
approaching the fishers. For the same reason, it was decided to tape all the interviews, also to
ensure a more fluent conversation.

35
A paragraph needs to be dedicated also to the different cultural context in which the interviews
have been conducted: “Gender, age and marital status are all aspects of a researcher's identity
that can limit access to informants or situations. Howard (1994) points out, however, that being
an outsider means that researchers can often be positioned outside local gender ‘norms’. it is
also important to recognise local political agendas and not, through your choice of
interviewees, to be seen to be taking sides or belonging to a particular group. It is also important
to maintain the confidentiality of each informant as gossip can be a powerful weapon when
wielded in particular social contexts.” (Flowerdew and Martin, 1997, p. 125).

A total of twenty interviews were conducted in the local cooperatives of La Barrita and El
Cayacal, respectively 8 and 12, during the months of November and December 2022. The
participants voluntarily responded to the open invitation that was made prior to the monthly
assemblies of the two cooperatives.

The interviews were free of an intentional direction, with the objective of knowing in depth the
fishing activity, personal stories of the fishers’ families, and trying to identify common
challenges. To integrate a broad vision in this diagnostic, it was considered appropriate to
involve people belonging to the entire fishing community and not only those directly involved
in the cooperative. Of the total of twenty people interviewed, 13 people are members of the
two fishing cooperatives, 4 are pescadores eventuales4 - still recognized by the cooperative but
not eligible for funding - and 3 respondents have been identified as involved in the sector for
other reasons. To try to maintain gender representation in a sector strongly dominated by men,
two of the 20 interviews were made with women who did not directly realize the fishing activity
but actually worked (or did in the past), in the sector in an indirect way, through the selling
activity.
Moreover, considering the importance of knowing the history of fishing in the region and its
evolution, this investigation was intended to involve different generations of fishers (FIG. 3).
In the end, we managed to conduct interviews over six generations of fishers, represented as
follows: one elder over 85 years old, one between 71 and 85, 5 people between 56 and 70 years
old, other 5 between 41 and 55 years old, and then 6 people between 26 and 40 and other 2
below 25 years old.

4
occasional fishers
36
 Figure 3: Age distribution

The results of the interviews have been presented as follows: first, an overview of the actual
state of the SSFs cooperatives, focusing on the main problems highlighted by the fishers, then
a look at the history of the fishing activity of the region, and finally, a focus on future visions,
highlighting the potential role of tourism. For what concerns the main challenges, a top-down
thematic analysis (TA) of the interview data was conducted. We chose to examine semantic
themes, which are based on the explicit (or surface) meaning of the text and do not rely on
meanings beyond what a participant has said. We identified these themes via a deductive, top-
down approach. Top-down approaches use pre-defined categories to identify themes in a given
set of qualitative data. In this sense, TA allows researchers to explore people’s everyday
experience of reality, to gain an understanding of the phenomenon. At the same time, TA
outputs permit a fine-grain synthesis of participants’ meaning by using tools for evaluating the
relative or absolute weight of emerging themes. The coding process was conducted on “the
most basic segment, or element, of the raw data or information that can be assessed in a
meaningful way regarding the phenomenon.”
It must be noted that even if the main source of information has been represented by the
recorded interviews, relevant insights have also been obtained through countless informal
conversations given the extended period spent in the communities, and are reported in the
results to better outline the context.

37
3.3 Background knowledge: preliminary information

In the community of Juluchuca, where most of the social projects of the hotel are based, there
are more or less thirty people who are dedicated to fishing, even if it does not represent their
principal occupation, as they mainly fish for subsistence. Only two of them dedicate themselves
to fishing as their economic activity, and this is the reason a cooperative is not present. The
information collected in the preliminary interviews here will not be reported in the results of
the study, however, they represented a fundamental starting point for the inquiry, because of
the more confidential relationship established with the community throughout the 14 years of
activity of the hotel, and will be briefly reported in this section.
The main fishing effort of this community takes place in the nearby lagoons or in the ocean
directly from the shore, mainly because none of the interviewees owns a boat to fish in the
ocean, even if some own a small boat, locally called pango, to fish in the lagoons that can only
fit one or two people. These fishing grounds are strongly interconnected with a mangrove forest
that develops just before the river mouth, and the fishers interviewed showed a strong
knowledge of the ecosystem dynamics and services provided by the manglar. In past years,
governmental projects regarding shrimp aquaculture in one of the lagoons have been
implemented, but also rapidly discontinued because of complex social dynamics and disunion
among the people of the community involved. The last set of questions d) were added to the
interviews to better investigate this dimension. For what concern section c), the two fishing
cooperatives, presenting a more organised structure, have been identified as more suitable for
the development of tourist activities, therefore it has been considered relevant to add a specific
set of questions on the theme. Because of the research question of the study, the focus finally
shifted to these two communities.

3.4 Second round of interviews with relevant stakeholders

After, the overall results have been discussed in a final round of four non-structured interviews
conducted in February 2023 with relevant stakeholders present in the area, in order to provide
a second level of insight. To represent all the different existing dimensions, it was considered
relevant to report the observations of the following categories: a local tour operator, an
international touristic operator, an academic, and a biologist part of a local environmental
NGO. An unfilled diagram regarding “SSF cooperatives in Costa Grande, Guerrero, Mexico”
(FIG. 4) has been used as a visual elicitation and presented to all the interviewees, with the
38
request to elaborate their knowledge on the subjects presented. The diagram has been divided
into three sections and two subsections:

● Actual state - with one subcategory related to the challenges,

● History
● Visions for the future - with a subcategory regarding recommendations

Figure 4:Visual elicitation provided during the second round of interviews. Courtesy of the author.

39
40
Chapter 4. Interviews: presentation and analysis

4.1 Presentation results interviews with the fishers

As aforementioned, the study analysed two SSF cooperatives based in two small rural
communities in the municipality of Petatlan. In this subchapter, we will go in-depth, reporting
the information provided from the interviews with the fishers, to give back an accurate frame
of the socio-ecological situation of these localities, their traditional ecological knowledge and
their future visions.

4.1.1 Present state

Respectively, the two cooperatives are called Buzos y Pescadores - La Barrita and Producción
Pesquera y de Servicios - El Cayacal, and at the time of the interviews they counted
respectively 24 and 47 members, not necessarily living in the community where the cooperative
is based, but getting there from close by localities. However, it must be pointed out that these
numbers do not fully reflect the total number of people involved for two reasons:

1. in both cooperatives are present pescadores eventuales, that pay their fee to be
part of the cooperative but cannot access governmental funds. These affiliated
fishers are waiting to officially join the cooperative as members for varied
reasons.

“Hay personas que son eventuales, le llaman ellos, no son socios, pero apoyan a
las cooperativas, o sea, están aportando cada mes también su cuota.5”

2. Some members of the cooperative are not actively fishing: they are usually older
people - identified as retirees - who remain as part of the cooperative mainly to
receive state subsidies when available, and to whom is given priority of access.

5
“There are people who are temporary, they call it, they are not members, but they support the cooperatives, that
is it, they are also contributing with their quota every month.” [translated by the author]
41
All cooperatives present a directory board composed by a president, a secretary, and a treasurer,
which changes every 5 years, or when the members decide. The assemblies reunite once a
month with all the members. It is important to notice that in these occasions the retired members
do not have a voice in the making of the decision.

Their activity takes place in the same areas, between a locality known locally as La antena,
near Playa de Valentin, and a locality known as El Calvario, for a total coastal coverage of
roughly 23 km (MAP 3). Even if the area of work is the same, the two communities have very
characteristic identities that help to differentiate the activities: one is principally a cooperative
of divers, while the second is more focused on artisanal fishing.

This is mainly due to the different conformation of the coast and the location of the
communities, compared to the access to the ocean: while the population of La Barrita develops
closer to the shore (in green - MAP 4), El Cayacal is located inland, further away from the
access point (in blue - MAP 4) localised in Puerto Xiaputica, a small marina that allows the
safe storage of the boats outside the water (FIG. 5). Even if not comparable to a harbour, Puerto
Xiaputica allows the fishers of El Cayacal to find a way to get inside the ocean safely, and this
eventually led to a strong propension for fishing activities, over diving.

42
Map 3: representation of the area of pertinence of the SSF cooperatives taken into consideration for the case
study.

Map 4: location of the different access to the ocean of the two SSF cooperatives analysed.

43
Figure 5: Puerto Xiaputica. (Source of all the pictures present: Maria Giovanna Stoppani, December 2022)

Figure 6: (a) access to the ocean in Playa La Barrita (b) Playa La Barrita.

44
Both cooperatives use motorised fibreglass boats that measure between 3,5 m and 4,5 m (FIG.
6a). As of today, no geolocalization devices are being used. The cooperative of El Cayacal
counts more or less 15 boat owners among its members, and because of this, shallow coastal
waters represent the main area exploited. The other group only counts one fibreglass boat for
the whole cooperative, so fishing directly from the shore is a much more common activity since
only a maximum of four or five fishers can go out every day - and maximum three or four
during night - when the oceanic swell allows it. Because there is no infrastructure to facilitate
the boats’ operations (FIG. 6b), the conditions of the ocean influence the possibility of safely
conducting their activity: in particular, during the rainy season, between June and
September/October, it is almost impossible to work, due to the strong waves breaking on the
shoreline. This condition is referred to as mar de fondo.
Either way, it is important to point out that these modalities of access to the ocean are very
damaging. For this reason, boats get broken on the regular and are often in need of maintenance.
This is common to a point that fishers, from time to time, purposely sink the most damaged
boats to generate refugees for fishes, and so overall more abundance.

For what concerns the traditional fishing techniques - and the species targeted - we can present
them through the following categories a) free-diving fishing, b) bait-fishing, c) artisanal fishing
techniques conducted from the shore, and d) artisanal fishing techniques in coastal waters.

a) Free-diving fishing

Free diving is practised with basic snorkelling equipment, masks and fins. The method used
depends on the target species. To collect oysters, they use a long metal bar to separate them
from the rocks (FIG. 7a), and then an inflatable (FIG. 7b) to collect them before they return to
the boat or kayak or paddle board, used to move from one place to another. To get into the sea,
they occasionally go by boat, more often by kayak, paddle boards, or even directly swimming
from the shore (FIG. 8).

45
Figure 7: Free diving equipment (a) metal bar used to extract oysters, on the right (b) inflatable tyre used to
collect oysters.

Figure 8: Divers fishing for oysters.

46
To catch lobsters and octopuses, they use a thin instrument called gancho - which translates as
“hook” - while for fishes, they eventually use harpoon guns. On the gancho:

“No está permitido ir a bucear con gancho porque lástimas al animal,

especialmente si está desovando ya no lo puedes devolver al agua porque lo
lastima. [...] [El gancho] básicamente es una varilla de acero inoxidable o fierro,
o lo que sea: una varilla. Le pones el anzuelo y del anzuelo, lo amarras y ya
queda como un gancho. [...] Eso nada más para matar langosta y pulpo.6”

b) Bait-fishing

In both cooperatives, the operation of getting the bait is extremely determinant. It is mainly
executed from the shore in the early morning, for what concerns the fishers that operate during
the day, or at night directly from the boat with an instrument called cuchara - which translates
to spoon. The main targets are sardines (FIG. 9a) or squids, abundant in the area, but as
highlighted by the fishers, other species can be used as bait, especially during different seasons:

“Hay muchas cosas que te salen de carnada en el mar. Por diferente tiempo
también hay [carnada diferente].7”

The operation from the shore is done with a traditional instrument called atarraya - best known
in English as cast net (FIG. 9b). Even if the live baits, as the aforementioned, are preferred,
there are also traditional methods of fishing during the night with small pieces of sewing thread,
called señuelo, that if moved with experience can resemble a living being.

6
“It is not allowed to go diving with the hook because you hurt the animal, especially if it is spawning and you
cannot put it back in the water because it is hurt. […] [the hook] is basically a stainless steel or iron rod, or
whatever: a rod. You put the hook at the top, you tie it, and it already looks like a hook. [...] That's just to kill
lobster and octopus.”

7
“There are many things that come out of the sea that can be used as bait. Also, for different seasons you can find
[different types of bait].”
47
 Figure 9: Bait fishing (a) Baits collected (b) Fishers using atarrayas.

c) Artisanal fishing techniques conducted from the shore

From the shore, the main technique used to fish is the aforementioned atarraya (FIG. 9b), and
based on the different target species the dimension of the holes varies: usually, they are
measured referring to how many puntas - referring to the tip of the fingers of a hand - that can
fit in one hole. The main species targeted with this technique from the shore is usually a species
locally called cocinero - Caranx caballus - very abundant in coastal Pacific waters.
Occasionally, fishing rods are used to fish from the shore to target bigger fishes.

d) Artisanal fishing techniques in coastal waters

The main fishing method on board is referred to as pura cuerda - which literal translation is
“pure fishing line”. The nylon line is directly used with a weight, to let the line sink (FIG. 10a),
and one or multiple hooks (FIG. 10b) attached to it: these operations are made by hand (FIG.

48
11a). On board, a traditional method to mark the catches of each fisher from the others is to
bite the caudal fin of the fish: can be none, one bite, or two (FIG. 11b).

Figure 10: Artisanal fishing (a) Weight (b) Knotting method for securing the hook to the line.

Figure 11: Artisanal fishing (a) Fishing line (b) Method used to mark the catches.

49
 - Buzos y Pescadores - La Barrita

The cooperative Buzos y Pescadores - La Barrita counted 24 members at the time the
interviews were conducted. Of these, most of them are principally divers, even if no one
exclusively operates one activity over the other. The cooperative is based in the locality known
as La Barrita Playa (different from the area known as La Barrita Puente), characterised by an
elongated sandy beach with several seafood restaurants, frequented by local tourism, given the
ease of access to the beach. Due to its proximity to the mouths of small rivers and nearby
lagoons, the area is characterised by rocky oyster seabeds. Because of these, the principal
activity of its members is focused on free diving, with the main target species being oysters,
lobsters and octopuses.

The cooperative only counts one registered boat, and the fishers alternate every day in the use
of it: when the ocean permits it, 5 to 6 people embark in the morning around 8,30 AM - after
getting the live baits from the shore with an atarraya - till 2,30 PM approximately. Because
there is no infrastructure to facilitate the moving operations of the boat, the activity of this
cooperative is mainly focused during daytime, even if during nights of new moon, and the days
immediately before or after - locally called de obscurana - they do report going out, because
of the abundance of resources. When these conditions are present, they leave before sunset,
usually in 3 or 4 people, and they get back with the first lights of the day: this is because it is
recognized as dangerous to move with the boat in complete darkness. In this cooperative, the
conditions of the ocean strongly influence the possibility of safely conducting the fishing
activity: in particular, it is reported that during the rainy season, between June and
September/October, is almost impossible to work, due to the strong oceanic swell breaking on
the shoreline and the absence of infrastructure to facilitate the operations.
It is interesting to notice that adverse conditions for the fishers are recognized as good for the
divers: during nights of full moon, the conditions are ideal for diving, for what concerns
lobsters. As reported:

“La luna llena nos afecta [a los buzos] porque estamos abajo del pescado. En
luna llena, hay mucho pescado y son buena pesca para nosotros. Para el pescador

50
 no, para nosotros [buzos] sí, porque el pescado se junta, se está todo tipo de
cómo aprovechamos. Son días buenos [...] para el pescador no, son días malos8.”

For what concerns the divers, normally they go out 1 or 2 times a day, depending on the
economic needs of the individual. The shifts are of 3 or 4 hours, which can be either during the
morning, the afternoon, or at night, usually between 10:00-11:00 pm to 1:00-2:00 am. As
aforementioned, these are the best times to get lobsters. Speaking of equipment, divers usually
enter the ocean with a paddle board or a small kayak, or even nothing but a small inflatable tire
used to carry the oysters. The cooperative prohibited the use of oxygen tanks and compressors
in the area to ensure a more sustainable exploitation of ocean resources.

- Producción Pesquera y de Servicios - El Cayacal

The Fisheries Cooperative Producción Pesquera y de Servicios - El Cayacal is based in the

municipality of El Cayacal, in the locality of Puerto Xiaputica, a small commercial port
established in the sixties. Here the main activity carried out is fishing, with a restricted number
of partners who occasionally engage in the activity of divers for shellfish fishing.

In this cooperative, twelve interviews were conducted, 7 of which with members - including
the president of the cooperative, the treasurer, and one of the only two women registered as
members of the cooperative - and 4 with pescadores eventuales. In addition, an interview was
conducted with the wife of one of the fishers, to try to understand the gender dynamics that
take place within the cooperative. Even though the fishing operations are easier to conduct than
in La Barrita, due to the access to the bay and boarding area, all the operations to dock the
boats must be done by hand, with the support of wood trunks and plastic tubes to facilitate the
movement of the boats inside the water.
The main fishing effort of this cooperative is concentrated during night-time: they usually leave
before sunset and come back with the first lights of the day. The influence of the moon is
significant here, because it is not possible to fish during full moons, as the natural light results
too bright to catch the bait. During these days of the month, they fish during the day.

8
“The full moon affects us [divers] because we are under the fish. On a full moon, there are plenty of fish and it
means good catches for us. Not for the fisherman, for us [divers] yes, because the fish come together, there is all
sorts of species, and we take advantage of it. For us these are good days [...] not for the fisherman, for them, these
are bad days.”
51
From now on the results will be presented without distinguishing between the two cooperatives
and their members, for what will concern specific references in the direct citations of the
fishers. The main differences between the two cooperatives have been resumed in the table
TAB.1.
Table 1: Main differences between the two cooperatives analysed.

COOPERATIVES

La Barrita El Cayacal

a) number of members 24 47

b) geographical position of the community closer to the ocean developed inland

c) characteristics of the cooperative principally divers principally fishers

d) access to the ocean La Barrita -Playa Puerto Xiaputica

e) accessibility - road conditions good difficult

f) accessibility - transportation public transport need a vehicle

g) access to the ocean - boats difficult good

h) number of boats 1 15-20

i) fishing activity mostly daytime mostly during night

j) fishing effort yes yes, predominant

k) diving activity mostly during night mostly daytime

l) diving effort yes, predominant minor relevance

m) influence of the moonlight yes yes

n) actual presence of women no yes

o) past presence of women yes yes

52
[Link] Main catches and markets9

Talking about species targeted in the fishing activity, of primary importance are the
huachinango, red snapper (Lutjanus peru) and the flamenco (Lutjanus guttatus), nominated by
all those interviewed for their high commercial value. Later, different species of snapper
(Lutjanus sp.) were mentioned - pargo listoncillo (ribbon - Lutjanus colorado), pargo
colmilnudo (fanged - Lutjanus jordani), coyochiyo, and pargo bacoco - the ronco, also of
different species - ronco blanco (Haemulon flaviguttatum) and ronco chato (flat) - the robalo,
the cocinero (Caranx caballus), the jurel (Caranx sp.) and sierra (Scomberomorus sierra) (in
FIG. 12a). Of this, the most relevant species due to their commercial value were identified as
the fanged snapper, the white grunt, and the horse mackerel. Still, these species are harder to
catch. The cocinero was mentioned many times for its importance on the local market. Of lower
value we find the Mahi Mahi, locally known as dorado (Coryphaena hippurus), the black
skipjack tuna (Euthynnus lineatus) - locally known as barrilete (FIG. 12b). Other species such
as the boba and pez gallo (Serranidae sp.), pez aguja (Strongylura exilis), lora (Scarus
compressus), palometa (Trachinotus rhodopus), curvinas (Sciaenidae sp.), mero
(Cephalopholis panamensis), cabrilla (Epinephelus labriformis), espejo (Selene brevoortii)
were mentioned.

Figure 12: Main catches (a) Sierra, Barillete (b) Dorado, Barillete.

9
Species provided in this section are to be considered the most commonly caught in the area. This is not an
exhaustive list, as many other species can be found. The information contained in this section solely rely on the
insights obtained during the interview with the fishers, without conducting further analysis on the effective
catches.
53
On the other note, divers’ principal target are Pacific oysters (family Ostreidae) (FIG. 13a),
lobsters (Panulirus sp.) and octopuses (Octopus sp.) (FIG. 13b), of primary importance due to
their high market value and their abundance on the seabed close by the coastline. The extraction
of lobster is regulated, and usually the minimum size is around 300-350 gr. For what concerns
oysters, the size reference is that a restaurant plate should contain two of them:

“En un plato caben 2 ostiones.10”

The other shellfishes - of secondary importance mainly because they are difficult to encounter
and extract - include the abulón (family Haliotidae) (FIG. 13c), percebe (Pollicipes elegans)
and caracol (Strombus gracilior), named by three of the interviewees. On the same level, were
also mentioned the cucaracha de mar (Chiton articulatus), the margarita (Chama buddiana)
and the concha perla (Pinctada mazatlanica).

Regarding the selling prices, the majority of the fishers agrees that fluctuation can be influenced
by a) value of species, b) market seasonality, c) size, and c) buyers. Oysters are sold by dozens
at $150 MXN - around $7,50 USD - and lobsters are around $300/$350 MXN per kg. Caracol
and percebe are valued around $100 MXN for the dozen or $300 MXN per kg, even if more
difficult to find and extract. For the same reason, conchas Margaritas are also very valuable,
around $80 MXN each.

For the fishes, usually the mean is around $ 100 MXN per kg, but it can vary significantly. One
of the factors determining the price is the species, relating to the quality of the meat and its
market value:

“Depende del pescado, este te lo da uno a 100 MXN el kilo de huachinango. El

ronco, 80 MXN por kilo, [y el flamenco también] tiene el mismo precio.11”

10
“You can fit 2 oysters in a plate.”

11
“It depends on the fish, this one gives you one at 100 MXN per kilo of red snapper. The grunt, 80 MXN per
kilo, [and the flamenco too] has the same price.”

54
Figure 13: Main catches (a) Oysters (b) Octopus (c) Abulon.

55
Also, prices vary in different seasons: the interviewees agree that the highest season occurs in
December, when the catches are usually more abundant, but at the same time its price drops
easily. This is the reason why the fishers who both fish and dive, focus on diving in this period,
because the product are more valuable, and their price tend to be constant:

“En temporada de noviembre a diciembre es solo buceo, porque son vacaciones

y hay mucho más mercado. Los precios están más altos y uno saca más dinero.12”

The prices change significantly also depending on the size: the most valued catches are the
ones that weigh around 400/500 gr, known as de orden, or platillero, because they correspond
to the size of one plate, and therefore are preferred by restaurants. Taking as an example the
red snapper - huachinango - considered overall the most valuable product, the price oscillates
between $180 MXN and $130 MXN during high season, depending on the size:

“Exactamente de orden legítimo, es 500 g cada pescado [...] es lo que se vende

mejor [...] sí pues, el que tiene más mercado por los restaurantes, el que más se
pide. [...] Ahorita en temporada hasta 180 MXN el kilo. [...] Ahí sí que medía el
tamaño del pescado, si el pescado es más chico de orden, digamos 300 g, baja
su precio a 130 MXN el kilo.13”

Smaller fishes are sold usually at community level for less, to meet the needs of the customers
with more limited economic resources:

“Mira, depende la área, por ejemplo, cuando los salen a comercializar así, en las
comunidades, el pequeño [estamos] hablando de 3 [peces] por kilo, hasta 4 o 5
[peces] por kilo. Es más confiable para la zona rural.14”

12
“In season from November to December it is only diving, because they are holidays and there is a much larger
market. The prices are higher, and you get more money”

13
“Exactly the legitimate order, it is 500 g each fish [...] it is what sells best [...] yes, well, the one with the most
market by restaurants, the one that is most requested. [...] Right now in season up to 180 MXN per kilo. [...] There
he did measure the size of the fish, if the fish is smaller than the order, let's say 300 g, its price drops to 130 MXN
per kilo.”

14
“Look, it depends on the area, for example, when they go out to sell them like this, in the communities, the
little ones, [we are] talking about 3 [fish] per kilo, up to 4 or 5 [fish] per kilo. It is more reliable for the rural area.”
56
The socio-economic conditions of the area strongly affect the demand for smaller fishes, as
explained:

“El más pequeño es el más vendido. [...] La gente compra mucho porque con 1
kg, que son 6 pescados, come toda la familia. [...] La gente de aquí es más
humilde, con poco dinero, así que les conviene comprar muchos chiquitos para
que les alcance15”.

On the other side, intermediate buyers mostly come from the bigger municipality of Petátlan,
and they get directly on the spot after the fishing activity:

“A nosotros ahí mismo nos lo recibes, ahí, en el puerto.16”

Usually, products get weight through a portable scale (FIG. 14a), and the price gets discussed
at the moment (FIG. 14b). This is the favourite method of sale for the fishers, because they are
tired from the fishing activity, and they just want to be done as quickly as possible.

“[...] Por nosotros mismo, porque como salimos cansados de toda la noche y
todavía arreglar el pescado y llevarlo a un hotel, es más tardado. Y como se
revela toda la noche uno, es más fácil entregárselo a alguien que llegue ahí.17”

The interviewees generally show low interest in knowing where their product goes, although
they know that the principal market of the catches of first orden are touristic areas such as
Zihuatanejo or Acapulco - where it can be sold at a higher cost to hotels and touristic
restaurants. Some divers comment that at times they bring their products, particularly lobsters,

15
“The smallest is the best seller. [...] People buy a lot because with 1 kg, which is 6 fish, the whole family eats.
[...] The people here are more humble, with little money, so it is convenient for them to buy many small ones so
that they can reach them”.

16
“They receive us right there, there, in the port.”

17
“[...] For ourselves, because since we arrive tired from the whole night, to set the fishes and take them to an
hotel is going to take longer. And since one has been working overnight, it's easier to hand it over to someone
who gets there.”
57
directly to Zihuatanejo, or as far as Lazaro - a municipality located in another state - based on
previous agreements made through phone calls with clients.

Figure 14 Market (a) Portable scale (b) Selling operations

[Link] Local limitations

Both cooperatives present local regulations for the extraction of marine resources, on top of
seasonal federal bans, enforced by the same cooperatives. These regulations regard both fishing
techniques and spatial-temporal limitations, and are considered extremely relevant for the
fishing communities in order to maintain a healthy production year after year:

“[...] esas son las 2 vedas federales, ¿Nosotros tenemos vedas locales, sí
entiendes? Nosotros tenemos vedas locales aquí [..] de la cooperativa. Son más

58
 respetuosos, respetan más la de nosotros que las federales a los socios. [...] Aquí
mismo nos organizamos para lo mismo. Para tener mariscos para otro año.18 ”

In both cooperatives trammel nets and longlines are recognized as destructive fishing methods,
and are therefore banned permanently:

“[...] los trasmallos y la cimbra no están permitidos. [...] con todo lo que tenemos,
nosotros cuidamos. [...] Por Puerto Vicente, acá, la cimbra también está
permitida. Y aquí, desde que se hizo la cooperativa, no. No permitieron que
permitieran.19”

In the cooperative of divers, this is also true regarding oxygen tanks. In the case of oysters, it is
reported that there is a kind of local management plan, established by the cooperative itself,
defining closed seasons and allowing extraction only in specific places in different times of the
year. It is interesting to notice that in other locations of the fishing ground there is no regulation
on the extraction of oysters, due to the strong conditions of the ocean, described as a self-
regulating system:

“Cada año, podemos sacar en un área. [...] En diciembre se saca la parte de aquel
lado, y en Semana Santa se saca aquí donde están los restaurantes. [...] Ya en
frente de Musa[hotel], ahí no hay veda nunca, hay muchos ostiones pero nunca
hay veda, porque ahí lo veda el mar igual, solo porque es más mar abierto así
que golpea más y está más alto, por lo cual no te deja sacar.20”

18
“[...] those are the 2 federal bans. We have local bans, do you understand? We have local bans here [..] from
the cooperative. They are more respectful, and the members of the cooperative respect these ones more than the
federal ones. [...] Right here we organize ourselves for ourselves. To have seafood for another year.”

19
“[...] the trammel nets and the longlines, they are not allowed here. [...] with everything we have, we take care
of it. [...] For example in Puerto Vicente the longlines are allowed. Here, since the cooperative was made, no.
They [the fishers] did not allow it to be allowed.”

20
“Per year, we can take out one area. [...] In December the part on that side gets extracted, and at Easter it is
removed here, in front of the restaurants. [...] In front of Musa[hotel], there is never a closed season there, there
are many oysters but there is never a closed season, because the sea is closed there the same, only because it is
more open sea, so it hits more and is higher, so it doesn't let you take out.”
59
The timeframes principally referred to are December and around April, as Christmas and Easter
holidays bring many tourists in the area. High seasons as the ones described are therefore more
at risk for uncontrolled exploitation due to potentially high profit:

“Le bajan mucho de precio y en temporada de Semana Santa el pescado se

escasea muchísimo, que es en abril, en abril, más o menos. Se está sé ahí, está
por los cielos. Está muy, muy caro.21”

On the other side, talking about fish products, not many present rules or bans:

“De huachinango casi no hay [reglas], no hay muchas reglas aquí. Aquí el
huachinango cuando si el tiempo te presta para sacar, va a sacar lo que lo que
saques, si es que me ayuda [...]. Ahí sacas todo, todo lo que saques y sale si lo
vendes, sales y vende todo lo que lo que saques. De hecho, el pecado chiquito
tiene más venta que el pescado grande: es más fácil porque, por ejemplo, el
pescado que es chico, aquí el restaurante lo compra, pero te lo compra la gente
que anda caminando así, y este que tiene más venta más rápido, es más barato,
es más económico.22”

It must be pointed out that because of the relative abundance of marine resources of the area,
the high number of people exploiting it, and the general socio-economic situation of the region,
it is not always easy to ensure the respect of these rules, as highlighted in many interviews. This
phenomenon will be better analysed in the next paragraph.

21
“They lower the price a lot and in the Easter season the fish is very scarce, which is in April, in April, more or
less. [The price] skyrockets, it’s very, very expensive."

22
“There are almost no [rules] for red snappers, there aren't many rules. Here the red snapper when it’s the season,
you go and take, take what you can, if it helps [...]. There you take everything, you take everything out and you
go and sell it, you go and sell everything you take out. In fact, the small sizes have more sales than the big fishes:
it is easier because, for example, the fish that is small, is the one which the restaurant buys, but the people who
around buy it, and these ones are faster to sell because they are cheaper, more economical.”
60
[Link] Main challenges

Hereafter are reported the main challenges identified by the interviewees. The information has
been partially obtained by direct questions regarding this theme, but also recollected from
general pieces of information shared during formal and informal conversations. The main
challenges, highlighted in both cooperatives in a relevant number of interviews, which will be
described are the following: a) commercial boats from outside, b) personas problemáticas, c)
governmental subsidies, d) infrastructure, and e) scarcity of marine resources.
Analysed one by one, every one of them could be seen as directly related only to smaller
spheres, such as the ecological or social dimension. Because of this, even trying to break them
down into categories during the analysis, is important to keep a point of view as wide as
possible in the presentation of these problems, as we will try to do in this section of the analysis.
While recognizing that most of the categories overlap, challenges can be classified into related
dimensions: ecological, social, governance, and infrastructure. In the two cooperatives
analysed in the study, the ones identified were principally related to governance, due to the
arrival of fishing boats from outside, social, due to inside fractures and lack of government aid,
and infrastructural.

a) Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing activity

The by-far most reported problem, highlighted by 14 out of 20 of the interviewees, refers to
the jurisdiction and governance of marine spaces. In particular, two main categories can be
identified: a) the arrival of commercial shrimp trawlers - and in minor part tuna boats; and to a
lesser extent b) the occasional invasion of fishing spaces pertaining to the cooperatives by
fishers from nearby localities. Speaking of categories, this challenge can be directly identified
as ecological, because of the use of destructive fishing techniques, that are not allowed in this
area due to local bans of the cooperatives - like trammel nets - but also as a governance problem,
related to the non-efficient management of marine spaces, and a social one, due to the lack of
action from the enforcing authorities. We will try to go into more detail about all the different
dimensions influenced by this.
Ecologically, the trammel net can be identified as a non-selective fishing technique, which does
not allow to easily target the species of interest, producing many incidental catches, also known
as by-catches, such as turtles, dolphins, sharks. All of these species are not directly targeted by

61
these boats, but inevitably get caught in the nets. Even if they are released afterward, there is
very little chance that these animals will survive due to the great trauma:

“[Los barcos comerciales] están llegando. El año pasado llegaron muchísimo

y mató mucho animal, muchas tortugas, pescados que no son comestibles para
ellos, porque [estos barcos] son de pura selección de camarón, y lo demás lo
desechan. Luego están los atuneros también23 [...]”

These fishing techniques can destroy the complex ecosystem present on the seabed. In the case
of this region, characterised by oyster beds, this challenge can pose a serious threat, influencing
the biodiversity of the area but also the overall production, being oysters one of the most
abundant and valuable resources. Moreover, as highlighted by the fishers, in recent years there
is the always growing problem of abandoned fishing nets, known as “ghosts nets”, that
constitute the bigger portion of marine waste, and continue fishing even after they are
discarded. Again, in the words of the fishers:

““Yo, en un tiempo, trabajé el trasmallo [..] alrededor de 34/35 años. Trabajé

el trasmallo, trabajé en la red de altura, trabajé en las redes de rastreo, trabajé
en la cimbra. [...] Conozco todo y conozco el daño que hace. Por ejemplo, las
redes.2 Es un daño que causa un daño tremendo porque a veces que no te llevas
todo el producto que sacas y te toca soltarlo. Pero lo que pasa es que lo sueltas
golpeado. [...] Y el trasmallo, cínicamente, cuando esa flota que lo trabajan [...]
nos queda en la piedras, en los arrecifes. [...] ¿Por qué? Porque se pega la
piedra. [...] ¿Qué sabemos realmente que la cuerda no se va? [...] ¿Por cuánto
tiempo va a estar matando? Por siempre, por siempre. Por eso nosotros aquí la
verdad lo tenemos bien prohibido. [...] Al momento de bajar la red agarrados 3
tortugas, este animales sale a morir, dice, pero lo sueltan, pero aquí lo sueltan
a morir por el hecho de que ese animal va a golpear.24”

23
“[The commercial ships] are coming. Last year they arrived in quantities, and they killed a lot of animals, many
turtles, and fish that it is not [considered] edible for them, because [these boats] are purely selecting shrimps, and
they throw away the rest. Then there are the tuna boats too [...] “

24
I worked the trammel net a long time ago [..] for about 34/35 years. I worked with trammel nets, I worked on
the high seas’ fisheries [...] I know very well all of this and the damage it does. For example, the nets, the damage
that causes it is tremendous, because sometimes you don't need all the product you take out, and you have to
62
In both cooperatives, trammel nets are prohibited due to local bans, as they are identified by
the same fishers as non-selective and destructive fishing method for the ecosystem:

“Un trasmallo que se enreda con todo lo que se enreda no mata por una noche,
mata por años, por años.25”

Because of this, the fishers often recognize that the Government has some degrees of
responsibility in this sense:

“A veces el Gobierno no tiene cuidado con los barcos, no tiene cuidado, es

trasmallo pasó a molestar mucho, pero chinchorro deasea los barcos que llevan
arrastra de todo, tortugas y de todo. Nosotros pues si prohibimos todo eso.
Nosotros estamos en contra de esto, desde la destrucción que deben.26”

Ecologically speaking, fishers coming from other fishing grounds have been identified as not
respectful of the marine environment, as their presence influences the quantity of waste in
coastal waters:

“Lo que yo quiero es [...] obligar a las personas que se vea tirando basura en el
área de zona de pesca, donde uno anda pescando, porque no [...] yo sé que
varios vemos eso, que les vale gorro estás bien en desigualdades, y vienen de
Zihua, y se quedan aquí por tres, cuatro días, y tal. Si tienes botes como tú, vas
para allá con la corriente, te vienes topando [...] yogurt, power electrolytes,

release it. But what happens is that you release it injured. [...] And the trammel net, cynically, when that fleet that
works with this [...] the nets remain on the rocks, on the reefs. [...] Because? Because the stony seabeds trap them.
[...] What do we really know about where those nets end up? [...] For how long will those be killing? Forever.
That's why here we have them very well prohibited. […] If at the moment of lowering the net they caught 3 turtles,
these animals will die. But they say they do release them, but here is the thing, they release them to die, because
that animal is going to die.”

25
"A trammel net that gets entangled with everything that gets entangled does not kill for 1 night, it kills for years,
for years."

26
“Sometimes the government is not careful with these boats, it is not careful. Trawler started to bother us a lot,
and they destroy everything! These boats pick up everything, turtles and everything. We do prohibit all of that.
We are against these and the destruction that they cause."
63
 Coca, sabritas, nachos, de todo, tiene todo eso. que significa que no cuidamos
y tenemos nuestra mente de un lugar que está muy bien, es una zona turística,
algo más grande que aquí, debemos tener un poquito más respecto.27”

On the other hand, the arrival of these boats is not only a problem for the environment: it can
be difficult for these small cooperatives to be represented at governmental level, and this results
in great difficulties in reporting these types of problems to the authorities. Despite all of this,
the problem improved after a successful report made by the presidents of the cooperatives
around five years ago. From a governance perspective, if on one hand it may be true that the
government does not have enough resources to enforce the extended marine spaces of Mexico,
it is also true that due to the limited contribution to national economic income by SSFs groups
(Pescandodatos, Causanatura online archive, consulted on 04/01/2023), it is difficult to be
taken into consideration: the smaller the fishing cooperative, the less importance is given to it
(Garcia-Peña Valenzuela, 2019). This makes it tricky to report these problems to the
authorities, especially if immediate action is expected. The government's inability to be present
leaves room for other types of organisations to take the initiative to counter these types of
challenges. In the words of the fishers:

“Así que estaban matando todo ese pescado y tuvimos pláticas con el Gobierno,
pero no nos hizo caso y los siguió dejando porque ellos que llegaron de
Mazatlán Sinaloa les pagabanos. Sabes que es tipo “Mándale tanto al Gobierno
de allá” y ya, aquí se quedan serios, o sea, ellos estaban muy amparados, todos
ellos, los camaroneros por el Gobierno, así que no, no hicieron caso. [...] Así
llegó un punto en que acudieron mucha gente para decirles ah no, ahora sí que
¿Cómo se dice, para que me entiendas, nosotros le decimos chicos malos? [...]
Los barcos andan metiéndose así y ellos tomaron parte de todo el asunto, se
metieron al mar con lanchas grandes con armas y se fueron. Fue la forma en
que ya no sí, claro, se retiraron, dijeron. Sabes que vayas en a tantas millas
hacia adentro y ya por eso ya no los ves aquí, a veces se acercan, pero es para

27
“What I want is [...] to oblige the people who are seen littering in the fishing grounds, where one is fishing,
because no [...] I know that several of us see that, that they don't care, you're well in inequality, and they come
from Zihua, and they stay here for three, four days, and such. If you have a boat and you go there with the current,
you come running into them [...] yogurt, power electrolytes, Coke, snacks, nachos, everything, it has all those
things. This means that we don't take care and we have our minds of a place that is very good, it would be a tourist
area, something bigger, we must have a little more respect.”
64
 tirar, o así deperdicio, cosas así, nada. De Zihua también ocurrieron. Pero el
Gobierno no, nunca apoya, mientras ellos le están dando.28”

From another social dimension, much related to the ecological one, these commercial fishing
boats can influence the abundance of resources available, generating more difficulties in
affording a living through this activity: in this way, people are more prone to go against the
local restriction on the size of the catches and the fishing area in order to secure a better revenue
- as it will be better analysed in the next paragraph - or to pursue easier and more stable ways
of earning a living, eventually abroad.
As aforementioned, this Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activity is also
perpetrated by smaller fishers who come to the area. These are reported coming from the nearby
fishing communities inside the municipality, or from Zihuatanejo and Puerto Vincente de
Guerrero.

“Las lanchas con compresoristas estas se puede llamar, compresoristás, lo que

usan compresor, de Porto Vicente y Zihuatanejo. A los pescadores también le
afecta porque también vienen ellos así. [...] Por ejemplo, ahí está uno. [...] Están
una noche [...] son pescadores, pero hay veces que se vienen, que saben que
hay pescados y traen trasmallos aquí nosotros y ellos. Aquí nosotros no [está
permitido], a Zihua tienen permitido tirar trasmallo y los de Puerto Vincente,
no sé si tengan, tengan esté permitido eso, pero alcanza así lo tienen permitido,
así que vienen y atrapan todos los tipo de pescado y se lo llevan. Sí, ese es un
problema que tiene como pescador.29”

28
” So, they were killing all that fish, and we had talks with the Government, but they ignored us and kept leaving
them because they who arrived from Mazatlán-Sinaloa paid them. And you know how it's like, they say, “send
the government over there this much” and then, here they stay serious. That is, it, they were always very protected,
all of them, the shrimp trawlers by the government, so no, they ignored it [our report]. [...] So there came a point
where some people - well, how can I say it so that you can understand me - we call them the bad boys. Do you
understand me? [...] The ships were out there, and they took part in the whole thing, they got involved, went into
the sea with large boats and weapons. It was in this way that of course, they [the commercial shrimp trawlers]
withdrew, they said. They know that they need to stay in their spaces, a certain number of miles into the open
ocean, and know that sometimes they get too close to the shore. They get closer, but it's to mainly to throw away
waste, stuff like that. Sometimes they are also coming from Zihuatanejo. But the government does nothing, it
never supports us, while they do.”

29
“The boats with compressors can be called compressors, whose use a compressor, from Porto Vicente and
Zihuatanejo. This also affects the fishers because they also come like this. [...] For example, there is one. [...] They
stay one night [...] they are fishers, but there are times when they come, they know that there are fishes, and they
65
The main fishing techniques reported are divers, who come during the night with scuba diving
equipment or compressors, and fishers with trammel nets. As for large-scale commercial
fisheries, the ecological consequences could be very impactful, if referring to the extensively
reported scarcity of marine resources of the past few years:

“Me gustaría que los que vienen clandestinamente a dar sus trasmallos en los
bajos donde uno saca el pescado, pues de buscar alguna manera de que no lo
hicieran, para que así se pudiera otra vez repoblar de pesca, como era antes.30”

b) Personas problemáticas

In 10 of the 20 interviews conducted, the presence inside the cooperatives of problematic

people - personas problematicas - has been another common theme. These subjects could be
defined as people who do not comply with the regulations set by the cooperatives, with a low
propensity to dialogue and understanding. In their own words:

“Nosotros nos cuidamos mucho. Tenemos algunos socios que ay no, no

entienden, tú le dices, por ejemplo, yo saco la langosta de tamaño, que mide, que
pese unos 300/350 gr y hay buzos que la sacan muy pequeñita y siempre tengo
ese problema de que oye socios no saquen esta langosta. Este producto muy
pequeño hay que dejarlo para otro año! En el momento te dicen que sí, claro,
pero ya cuando buceando se traen todo. No hay respeto. [...] Es más fácil decirte
quienes no son, como unos cuatro, que no respetan ya lo demás.31”

bring trammel nets here. For us, here [it is not allowed], in Zihua they are allowed to use trammel nets and those
from Puerto Vincente, I don't know if they allow that, but they are allowed to do so, so they come and catch all
kinds of fish and carry it away. Yes, that is a problem you have as a fisher.”

30
"I would like that those who come clandestinely to set their trammel nets in the shallows where the others catch
fishes, well, to find some way for them not to do so, so that it could once again repopulate with fishes, as it was
before."

31
“We take great care of each other, but we have some members that oh no, they don't understand. You can tell
them, for example: “I fish lobsters of a good size, which weighs about 300/350 gr” and there are divers who take
it out very small and I always have that problem with these members, to not take out this lobster. This very small
product must be left for another year! When you talk to them, they will tell you:” Yes, of course!” but when they
go diving, they take everything. There's no respect. [...] It is easier to tell you who are not, like four, who do not
respect the others".
66
Some relate this challenge to a general lack of cohesion inside the cooperatives:

“La desunión, como cualquier organización. [Hay] deshonestidad, hay de todo.

[...] Porque mira ¿Quieres tener un problema con un amigo? Que tú trates de
mejorar las cosas. En tu caso, yo sé que ha tenido ese tipo de problemas, si tú
eres mejor que alguien, ese alguien ya te entiende. Quitar no vaya a pasar de
situación. Pero desgraciadamente, muchas veces no te lo dicen, sino que dicen -
está, me está ganando - ya va la mala. La desunión es una falta de honestidad,
falta de concientización, de que uno se que se trabaje en un grupo [...] grupos
pequeños pero indomables.32”

If at first this could have been linked to isolated cases, it emerges that because of the socio-
economic conditions of the communities, this behaviour can be linked to market preferences:

“El más pequeño es más vendido. [...] La gente compra mucho porque con 1 kg,
que son 6 pescados, come toda la familia. [...] La gente de aquí es más humilde,
con poco dinero, así que les conviene comprar muchos chiquitos para que les
alcance.33”

This may also directly relate to the local nature of the restrictions of the cooperatives:

“[...] pero como me dicen - [...] porque que me vas a hacer ¿Regañar la vieja?
[...] me dicen.34”

32
“Disunity, like any organization. [There is] dishonesty, there is everything. [...] Because look, do you want to
have a problem with a friend? That you try to improve things. In your case, I know that he has had these kinds of
problems, if you are better than someone, that someone already understands you. Remove will not happen from
situation. But unfortunately, many times they don't tell you, but they say - it's, it's winning - the bad is already
going. Disunity is a lack of honesty, a lack of awareness, that one knows that one is working in a group […] small
but indomitable groups.”

33
“The smallest is the one that sells better. [...] People buy a lot because with 1 kg, which is 6 fishes, the whole
family eats. [...] The people here are humbler, with little money, so it is convenient for them to buy many small
ones, so that they can afford more”.

34
“[...] but they tell me - [...] because what are you going to do to me? Are you going to make [my mom] scold
me? [...] they tell me."
67
If this challenge seemed to relate mainly to the social dimension of SSFs, it must be noted that
this phenomenon could be linked to the overall ecological health of the marine ecosystem
exploited: if fish stocks are not free to reproduce properly, this can lead to ecological
disbalances in the area. This could be generally linked to the declining abundance of resources
reported by the fishers - as it will be described more in depth in point d) - some of these
personas problematicas are often referred to as not very respectful of the ecosystem, throwing
waste in the ocean and acting in a way not compatible with the preservation of the resources
they exploit:

“[Cuando] llevo gente y yo le van sacando mi lancha para afuera, yo levanto

toda mi basura, porque me la traigo, en vez de tirarla, y la echamos al cesto. Y
ellos vienen y dejan todo tirado, nomas tiran las cosas para abajo, para afuera de
la lancha. [...] ¿Griego porque yo les he dicho aquí hay muchas personas que les
digo, Oye ***? Dejen la basura ahí en la lancha, en una esquinita, allá afuera, la
sacamos una chingada el mar lo va a sacar, que él lo va a sacar. [El mar] no lo
saca, va a sacar de 100000 partes le digo, eso es nunca. Por gente así estamos
como estamos. Va a llegar un momento que no tengamos nada, que tiramos la
cuerda al largo y sacamos un zapato, una bolsa.35”

c) Governmental subsidies

Another theme identified, highlighted in 10 out of 20 interviews, is the perception and

effectiveness of governmental support. As of today, the only economic incentive is the subsidy
known as Bienpesca, issued since 2019 as direct support for fishers whose activity is
temporarily restricted due to a ban. It is provided annually, and it consists of $7200 MXN -
approximately $390 USD. The idea of the program is to provide financial support to incentivize
the sustainable exploitation of marine resources, however, as reported by the ONG

35
“[When] I bring people and they take my boat outside, I pick up all my garbage, because I bring it with me,
instead of throwing it away, and we throw it into the basket. And they come and leave everything behind, they
just throw things down, out of the boat. [...] Greek because I have told them here there are many people that I tell
them, Hey ***? Leave the rubbish there on the boat, in a little corner, out there, we take it out like hell, the sea is
going to take it out, he's going to take it out. [The sea] doesn't get it, it's going to get 100,000 parts, I tell you,
that's never. It's because of people like this that we are as we are. There will come a time when we have nothing,
when we pull the rope to the length and take out a shoe, a bag.”
68
Causanatura, its effectiveness is still uncertain and undocumented (Leal Cota et al., 2018).
Between 2014 and 2018, the subsidy was called PROPESCA, and to obtain it, the fishers were
requested to attend a workshop provided by the civil association Instituto Nacional para el
Desarrollo de Capacidades del Sector Rural (INCA Rural).
Because of the limited number of resources provided, it is interesting to assess how these are
redistributed inside the cooperatives. As previously described, in one cooperative the priority
is to provide the elders:

“Por ejemplo ahora nosotros tenemos afiliados que son buzos que ya no trabajan
en el mar, pero si están socios porque trabajaron en su tiempo, trabajaron mucho
[...] a ellos son los que yo agarro primero, si llega alguna ayuda. [...] Pues lo
primero que tienes operativo son los primero que agarro.36”

In the other cooperative, the method of redistribution is more complex to understand, and
therefore questioned by the members. This results in social problems related to the arrival of
aids and the modality of distribution among the members:

“[...] aparte de que tienen que pagar cada mes, ese dinero no se no se administra
bien. Y la verdad, pues, quizás si estuviera otra persona en el cargo, que
administrara bien el dinero, pues no había ningún problema mhm pero la verdad
no hacen muy bien su trabajo, para mí37.”

It is interesting to note that in one cooperative the situation is less problematic, probably due
to the lower number of members: in 2019, all the 9 members who applied to receive aid,
obtained it. In El Cayacal, composed of almost 50 people, only 17 applied to receive the
funding, and of these only 13 have been allocated (Pescandodatos, Causanatura online
archive, consulted on 04/01/2023). These numbers contribute to creating social fragmentation
and difficult dynamics between the members of the cooperative.

36
“For example, now we have affiliates who are divers who no longer work in the sea, but they do are members
because they worked in their time, they worked a lot [...] they are the ones I grab first, if any help arrives. [...]
Well, the first ones you have operational, they are the first ones I grab.”

37
“[...] apart from the fact that they have to pay every month, that money is not well managed. And the truth,
well, maybe if someone else was in charge, who would manage the money well, well, there was no problem, but
the truth is, they don't do his job very well, for me."
69
Apart from the Bienpesca subsidies, given out for the periods of federal bans in which a
professional is obliged to suspend his activity, other difficult environmental conditions of the
area have been pointed out to be period of impossibility to work:

“Juro que cuando llegan las lluvias y se pone feo el mar no se puede hacer nada
si uno fuera ahorita, si quería llamar mar de fondo. [...] Cuando está el mal
tiempo, cuando hay mar de fondo a veces, no se mete unos a los huracanes.38”

When these conditions occur, it can be dangerous to go fishing. Anyways, fishers do not receive
subsidies in these peculiar circumstances:

“Con la marea roja no pescamos casi, cuando se hace mar de fondo, viene siendo
veces en las aguas vez en la seca, esa no tiene esa nomas que llega, llega. Eso
no. [...] A veces tarda hasta 7 días, 8 días si puede ser, pues la lanza tal meserita.
Todo el mes. Hace unos como unos 15 días, si se llama Marea Roja. Mar de
fondo. [...] Es lo que queremos conseguir ayuda a contar esas cosas porque me
ayuda a todos los socios. Si los que no trabajamos, en esos no trabajamos.39”

d) Scarcity of marine resources

The overall scarcity of marine resources has been highlighted in 10 out of the 20 interviews
conducted. Even if it could be linked with lack of governance and socio-economic conditions,
as detailed in the previous two sections a) and b), this challenge can be defined also as
bioecological. Indeed, when talking with fishers, it emerges that the overall rise of temperatures
in the ocean may be related to this, as it is local ecological knowledge that fishes prefers colder
waters:

38
“I swear that when the rains come and the sea turns ugly, nothing can be done if you go right now, if you want
to call a swell. [...] When the weather is bad, when there is a swell sometimes, some don't get into hurricanes.”

39
“With the red tide we almost do not fish, when there is a swell, it has been times in the waters and times in the
dry, that one does not have that just that it arrives, it arrives. Not that. [...] Sometimes it takes up to 7 days, 8 days
if it can be, because it launches such a little waiter. The whole month. About 15 days ago, if it's called Red Tide.
Swell. [...] It is what we want to get help to tell those things because it helps all the partners. If those of us who
don't work, we don't work on those.”
70
 “La temperatura del agua [...] es más caliente. A veces me acuerdo que el agua
siempre estaba fresca, te metías al agua, siempre estaba rica y ahora, por
ejemplo, al tiempo que pasó, apenas en el agua caliente, te metas ya no te
rascabas. [...] pero el pescado busca el agua fría, el pescado se retira y se va
donde está más fría.40”

The rise in seawater temperature in this coastal area could be generally linked with global large-
scale phenomenon such as climate change, or irregular seasonal patterns, such as El Niño -
Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The fishers declare to not know the reason behind these
conditions, but the scarcity of resources has been documented for decades now:

“Antes había más pescado que ahorita, sí, sí hay más producción antes. [...] No
hay producto casi ahorita. Hay un poquito más en la noche. [...] ¿Quién sabe qué
estará pasando? [...]41”

It is interesting to notice that many times the problem highlighted is the lack of baits to go
fishing, and not the actual presence of fish:

“Pero sí había mucho, mucho marisco, de todo, pescados. Altísimo. Había

muchísima sardina. Carnada. Salieron aquí las manchas, sabían, negro, negro,
toda la orilla de sardina y veía cuando el pescado más grande.42”

e) Infrastructures

Both cooperatives lament a problem of infrastructure - precisely 9 people out of the 20

interviewed. Considering that in both localities there is no harbour or pier to dock the boats and

40
“The temperature of the water [...] is warmer. Sometimes I remember that the water was always cool, you went
into the water, it was always nice and now, for example, as time went by, as soon as you get into warm water, you
don’t shiver anymore. [...] but the fish looks for the cold water, the fish retires and goes where it is colder.”

41
“Before there were more fish than now, yes, there was more production before. [...] There is almost no product
right now. There is a little more at night. [...] Who knows what will happen? [...]"

42
“But there was a lot of shellfish, seafood, everything. Very high. And there was a lot of sardines. Bait. The
spots came out here, you know, black, black, the entire shore of sardines and I saw when the fish was bigger.”

71
thus facilitate loading and unloading of goods or people, all operations must be done by hand,
and this is influencing the accessibility of the fishing activity, even if in different ways:

“El problema más grande de ahí es que no hay un muelle, un donde desembarcar,
porque a cómo se pone el mar a veces [...] no, no, no entra adentro.43”

In El Cayacal, the lack of infrastructure is associated with difficulties in developing the

untapped tourism potential of the locality: as aforementioned, the almost 2 km dirt road that
connects the principal road to Puerto Xiaputica does not allow people without private
transportation to reach it easily. Moreover, the road does not receive proper maintenance so it
is not accessible to all the types of vehicles: regular cars could not get there easily anyway. The
other infrastructure mentioned by most of the fishers is a breakwater, to be able to get the boats
inside the water more easily:

“¿Ha estado en el puerto? Está muy bonito, pero tuviera más bonitos
estuviéramos con rompeolas.44”

In La Barrita, the impossibility of entering the sea safely to carry out fishing activity during
between June and September is one of the factors that makes it impossible to work in the rainy
season, when a strong oceanic swell, known as mar de fondo, generates waves that break
violently on the beach, making the activity very dangerous to conduct. In this occasion, fishers
describe it as a forced vacation:

“[...] agosto, septiembre y octubre son los tres peores meses del año para las
costas, que no se puede trabajar. [...] Tú tienes 9 meses para ahorrar lo suficiente,
y para esos tres meses sobrevivir a gusto, como vacación45”.

43
“The biggest problem there is that there is no dock, no place to disembark, because how the sea gets sometimes
[...] no, no, it doesn't go inside.”

44
“Have you been to the port? It is very beautiful, but it would be more beautiful if we were with breakwaters.”

45
“August, September and October are the three worst months of the year for the coasts, when you cannot work.
[...] You have 9 months to save enough and survive comfortably for those three months, as a vacation.”

72
Differently from El Cayacal, where the lack of infrastructure is identified as determinant for
the tourist development of the area, here the situation is different: the infrastructure problem is
identified as one of the most urgent problems to solve, because it directly influences the primary
fishing activity of the community. Because of this, it is reported that they are working to solve
this, seeking funds for the construction of a pier. Although it is recognized that this may have
impacts on the ecosystem and/or negatively affects its dynamics:

“[el muelle] es algo que sí necesitamos, pero siento que ya, va a cambiar mucho.
Va a cambiar el ecosistema tal vez para acá aquí la ola ya reviente de este lado
va a cambiar, no sabemos cómo va a agarrar.46”

4.1.2 History of the cooperatives

[Link] La Barrita

The first diver settled here around the 1960s, when La Barrita was a semi-virgin beach. There
were already fishers in the area, but more established in the town of La Barrita Puente: no one
who was engaged in diving for the extraction of shellfish. He learned the art of underwater
fishing in the nearby location of Puerto Vincente Guerrero and later settled in La Barrita. Also
in these years, the shellfish of major economic interest was the oyster. The interviewee
comments that he managed to open his own restaurant and later also another. This allowed him
to live thanks to this activity because he never had to buy the product, but he also sold it to
other restaurants of the area. Due to the very different conditions of coastal development, the
price of oysters was very different from what it is today: he used to sell a dozen for $6 MXN
in his own restaurant, and to other restaurants for $3 MXN each dozen (as a reference, today
the price of 12 oysters is around $150 MXN). After him, many others understood the potential
of this market and followed his guidance to learn about this fishing art, the places, and the
challenges of the work. His activity allowed him to develop a deep knowledge about the
ecological problems of the ocean: indeed, he remembers that also back then the problem of red
tides during spring season, and how this already affected his activity. In general, all the

46
“[the pier] is something that we do need, but I feel that now. and it will change a lot. The ecosystem is going to
change, maybe the wave here is going to break on this side, it's going to change, we don't know how it's going to
take hold.”
73
interviewees reported greater abundance of fish when they started the activity. This mainly
about quantity, since the number of different species or size did not vary much, as reported:

“Mi abuelo [...] fue buzo [...] Cuando llegó aquí estaba virgen, había muchísimo
marisco, sacaba el marisco con el agua en las piernas, no se sumía [...]
muchísimo la langosta [...] No había necesidad de bucear mucho ni de volver de
noche. [...] 10/15 años atrás cuando [yo] empecé [..] había muchísimos mariscos
[...] y muchísima langosta. [...] había muchísima sardina que sirve de carnada.
Salieron aquí las manchas, salían y se veía negro, negro, de toda la orilla de
sardina y veía cuando el pescado más grande.47”

“[Desde cuando empecé] cambió bastante porque cuando sea, ahí hay bastante
marisco en la noche, buceabas de noche y en un pedacito como ese llenabas
costillas de langosta bastante. Pero la competencia fue llegando buzos que no
respetaban los tamaños del marisco y se fue acabando todo. Y ahora vas de noche
y es muy raro sacar 5 kg a 10 kg de langosta.48”

[Link] El Cayacal

Puerto Xiaputica was developed in the fifties, and because of the easy access to the ocean
provided by the small bay, for a long time this port represented the main reference for fishers
in the area. It is also the reason behind the name of the small municipality: because the main
boats were small kayaks - locally called cayucos - the locality took the name of El Cayacal, as
the presence of many cayucos was identified as its main feature. At first, it was only accessible
from a small road, only on foot, and for this reason, everything had to be transported with
wheelbarrows, which contained everything necessary for fishing activity: coolers, ice, fishing

47
“My grandfather [...] was a diver [...] When he arrived here [the beach] was virgin, there was a lot of shellfish,
he took out the shellfish with the water on his legs, and no he didn't need to dive in [...]a lot of lobster [...] There
was no need to do much diving or come back at night. [...] 10/15 years ago when I started [..] there was a lot of
shellfish [...] and a lot of lobster. [...] there was a lot of sardines that serve as bait. The spots out here, the shore
looked black, black, from all the sardines, and I saw when the fish was way bigger.”

48
“[Since when I started] it changed a lot because when it was there, a lot of seafood at night, you had dived at
night and in a little piece like that you stuffed lobster ribs a lot. But the competition was arriving divers who did
not respect the sizes of the shellfish, and everything was running out. And now you go at night, and it is very rare
to get 5 kg to 10 kg of lobster.”
74
lines and all the equipment. The road for cars has been built only in recent times, about 20 years
ago. In addition, the little fishing boats were not equipped with motors, but moved only with
the help of oars: this made the activity more energy-consuming but also less expensive, since
gasoline is one of the biggest expenses today daily for fishers. In this past phase of the
cooperative, fish stocks in the ocean were much more abundant, as reported in most interviews:

“Cual si mis suegros acabó los pescados grandote según listos, este llenaban
hieleras, no necesitaban hielo para llenar este, [pescado] y nada más. Hacía
agarraban y en la lancha metían este ponían todo el pescado, pescados hermoso,
grandotes. Los más pequeños no se los compraban. Él nos contaba los pequeños
todos y traernos a la casa, así que se traían hasta 2 cubetas.49”

“[...] antes sacabamos muchos pescado, 30/ 40 kg en un día, y ahorita fui a pescar
y saqué 1/5 kg nada más.50”

[Link] Female role

Men dominate both cooperatives, with an absent or very scarce female representation.
However, the female role has evolved in unusual ways during the past decades: in both
cooperatives used to be a larger composition of women, principally fishers’ wives. Even if not
directly involved in the activity of fishing out at sea, they traditionally took care of many other
aspects closely related with the development of the sector, from taking care of the selling
operations to proper preparations and cooking - that could be categorised as primary
transformation stages. As reported, in the smaller cooperative there are no women present as
member at the moment:

“Antes, años atrás, tenían muchas mujeres, estaba trabajaba el esposo y estaba
su esposa, y a todos ellos, y yo, yo tenía esposa y yo mela a mi esposa a la

49
“When my in-law carried out the fishes as they were done, they filled ice coolers, they didn't even need ice to
fill them, fish and nothing else. They would grab it and put it in the boat, they would put all the fish, beautiful, big
fish. No one were buying the little ones. He would collect all the little ones to bring home, so they brought home
up to 2 full buckets.”

50
“[...] before we used to catch a lot of fish, 30/40 kg in one day, and now I went fishing and caught only 1/5 kg.”
75
 cooperativa, pero ya después se hizo un descontrol porque las mujeres querían
no que se haga esto y decían, bueno, pero es que ustedes no son, no, no están
pescando, están las cooperativas pero no pescan, no saben lo que es realmente
estará dentro del agua y la mujeres los presionabas, que mejor que se haga esto,
que Se haga esto. Donde se hizo un descontrol, pues ahí. Y pues más. Por
ejemplo, a veces querían sacar un producto. Y que decían, entre los hombres no
te vamos a sacar este producto y la mujer donde decía Sabes que no, que no lo
sabe, qué mejor que saquen esto y a donde decían, Bueno, pero es que tu no lo
estas sacando lo que le vamos a sacar somos nosotros mejor tú estás en el partido,
pero que estés aparte pues y donde decían ella no, pues todos somos iguales, si
es cierto, todos, todos, todos somos iguales, pero por una parte pues si tienen
razón lo ósea los hombres que sí tienen razón, porque por ejemplo, tú sabías lo
que ibas a hacer? ¿Lo que tenías ahora en el mar? [...]51”

In El Cayacal, two older women are present as members, both because owners of two of the
boats used for the fishing activities of the cooperative. They report to not actively participate
in decision-making processes but remain inside the cooperative for the subsidies - as retirees.
We had the opportunity to speak with one of them, mum of two of the fishers who actually use
the boat of her property, aged 73 at the moment of the interview. She told us about a time when
a group of ten women, mostly wives of fishermen, would bring and sell coffee and other snacks
in the morning near the port, before the road for cars was built and everything had to be brought
walking with wheelbarrows, in order to facilitate the work of the fishers. Later in the day, they
were the ones who would move through the different communities to take care of the selling:
they would walk through all the towns of Coyoquilla Norte, El Cayacal, and even Rancho

51
“Before, years ago, we had many women [in the cooperative]: the husband was working, and his wife was
there. I also had a wife and she was in the cooperative, but later on, the situation went out of control because
women wanted things to be done in a certain way and they said: “Well ok, but you are not the one fishing inside
the cooperative, you are there but do not fish, and so you cannot know what it really is to be in the water.” And
the women pressured them: “But it is better to do this, and this other thing…”. There was a lack of control. For
example, sometimes they wanted to release a product. And what did they say, among the men we are not going to
take this product from you and the woman where it said You know no, she doesn't know, what better way to take
this and where they said, Well, but you are not taking what you, we are going to take out we are better you are in
the party, but that you be apart well and where they said: “No, well we are all equal, it is true, we are all equal”,
on the other side it is true that some has its rights to say that, because they will question you: but on the one hand
well if they take another man who is also right, he could answer for example: “Do you know what is going on out
there in the ocean? Do you know what the sea has to offer at this moment?” [...]”
76
Nuevo, to sell the fish. Most of all, selling techniques were very important to be able to sell all
the fish of the day at a good price, without having to throw them away:

“[...] A veces me toca ganarle un peso cada kilogramo y yo le ganaba 5 MXN a

cada bolsita, y yo le decía, no, pues yo, aunque no le gane mucho. ¿Pero yo, yo?
Yo le ganaba poco, pero sí, sí, entró, acababa, y cuando no acababa de que lo
que decía me iba al río, daba cuchillo y un tenedor. Diciendo, lo sabría y lo
abiertito y ya me lo he lavado bien, lavadito, y me los trae todo bien, haciendo
trabajitos. Todo le echaba leerlo encima si cargaba. Y ya me venía. Yo no tiraba
un pescado. [...] Digo, qué carácter humanitario aquí los tengo todos y tú ya me
vees, bien, [una mujer estaba] tirando pescado por todo el camino, por toda la
carrera tirando pescado. ¿Yo pienso, para qué lo tira? Llévatelo, le digo, y Allá
lo lavas bien y lo abres. [...] viene corriendo, oye, dice Espérame, un pescado, le
digo sí está, dame 5 MXN por cada pescadito. [...] esas son las vendedoras,
mamá esa esas personas que saben hacer las cosas, esas son las que valen,
ustedes dicen no más sabe cargar la actina en la cabeza y ofrecer. Sí, después
que yo no los arreglos, pero yo nomás los estamos, dice. Y los raleos. Y ya. Pero
pues si los hago así, dicen, no se me secan, hiciera esta bonito que los arregló,
dice, y también bonito. Hasta huelen - dice - el pescado huele bonito y no, eso
me gustó! ¿Y porque yo arreglé, no? No, no sea se hielen, dice, sí pues, no tiene
modo de que le entre. La sal y el sol, por esto que se descompone. Y yo venía
ahorita que no se le sentáramos, venía agarra mi mano. Ya les da una poca de
agua, la lava con agua y agua con limón. Cambia, y los entendí.52”

52
“[...] Sometimes I saw them earning $1 MXN/kg while I was getting $5 MXN for each bag, and well I was
earning a lot more than them. But why? In the end, other times I earned a little, but yes, when I didn't finish the
fish to sell for the day I would go to the river, and with a knife and a fork would open it up and prepare it, already
clean, well washed and ready to be cooked. And then I would go back, and everyone was coming to me, buying
it. I have never thrown a fish. [...] and I mean, I have a humanitarian character here and you already can see. Well,
throwing fish all the way, all the way selling fish. I want it, why throw it away? Take it away, I tell her. Wash it
well and open it. [...] and then everyone comes running: “hey, wait for me, a fish?” I tell him that it's there, and to
give me $5 MXN for each little fish. [...] Those are the saleswomen, those are the people who know how to do
things, those are the ones that are worth it. They just know how to think it well in their heads and offer. And of
course, it was clear that a little elaboration could have been able to save a lot of products from going rotten, so we
did. “They don’t even smell - she says - the fish smells nice and usually doesn't!” It didn't because I prepared it,
right? Sometimes we didn’t even have good refrigeration, and the salt and the sun can make it go bad. And so, I
went and showed her, I said: “Look, grab my hand and give them a good wash, also with a little lemon water.” It
changes of course, and she understood it.”

77
4.2.3 Future visions

Regarding the future of the activity, the prospect is not very positive, with most fishers
reporting a general concern for the future of the sector:

“[...] por ejemplo estas criaturas [señalando a su hijo] ¿Tú crees que si dejáramos
meter las redes continuamente iban a conocer los pescados cuando menos? No.
Y eso es lo que desgraciadamente, pues el Gobierno no nos apoya en eso. [...]
Nosotros mismos sabemos realmente que estamos dañando todo, todo el planeta
lo estamos dañando.53”

Many younger fishers are concerned about economic instability, and some are considering
emigrating abroad, mainly to the United States, to get a better-paid job:

“Yo quisiera entrar a los Estados Unidos, lo que quisiera hacer, a ver si algún
día puedo irme para allá. Pues trabajar allá de lo que sea, porque allá vale más
el dinero que aquí. Allá, si hay más dinero trabajando toda la semana allá saca
uno más que trabajando aquí de albañil o de chalán.54”

An interest to pursue other ways to support the fishing sector in a financially sustainable way,
not only for the present but also for the generations to come, was pointed out:

“[El futuro] se me hace muy complicado. Por eso le he dicho a mis hijos que
estudian, porque de pescadores ùltimamente el pescado se está escaseando. Yo
le digo a mi esposo que, independientemente a la cooperativa, que busquemos
un proyecto donde podamos esté en viveros de pescado, para poder darle
reproducción. Pero pues comentamos a la cooperativa, pero como que no hay

53
“[...] For example, these creatures [pointing to his son] Do you think that if we let the nets go in continuously,
they would know hoe are the fish here? No. And that is what unfortunately, because the Government does not
support us in that. [...] We ourselves really know that we are destroying everything, we are destroying the entire
planet.”

54
“I would like to enter the United States, it is what I would like to do, to see if one day I can go there. Well,
work there for whatever it is, because money is worth more there than here. Over there, if there is more money
working all week there, you get one more than working here as a bricklayer or chalán.”

78
 mucho interés, la mayoría van a lo que saca. Sí, digo, hay que ser más esté más
amplios, porque más adelante no lo vamos a dejar. Nuestros hijos tienen
problemas. Que pedo lo que le vamos a dejar.55”

In particular, those with children want a better future for them, and often their wish is for them
to pursue other types of careers, which do not involve fishing:

“Yo te voy a ser sincero, muy sincero: en un lugar muy bonito como esto, no sé
un puerto, una playa, es hermoso, puedes vivir tranquilo siempre, si tú lo deseas,
tranquilo y feliz, en paz. Pero cuando tienes un hijo o una hija, lo que sea, pues
que tú quieres lo mejor para él. No, yo no quiero, o sea que ella pues igual no lo
mismo yo. Mi aspiración es que ellos siempre lleguen mucho más, mucho más
allá.56”

For the future of the cooperatives, someone suggest tangible actions to be persecuted, in
particular regarding environmental awareness, but that could also help in the improvement of
the overall cohesion of the organisation:

“Es importante porque ustedes como biólogos pueden hacer, no? Se podría
hacer, es una pregunta, se podría hacer obligar a las personas que dejen de tirarle
a la basura? para ir a pescar por la noche, estoy viendo [...] ¿Qué le decimos?
Que no, que el mar nos da de comer todo el tiempo y nosotros lo llenamos de
basura. Les va el gorro - El mar lo saca todo. Es mentira, el [mar] no lo saca de
la bolsa de galletas. Estaría bueno que les hicieran un curso a todos ellos ahí, y
explicarles que se les va a multar si se les ve tirando basura en el mar, y se va a

55
“[The future] seems very complicated for me. That is why I have told my children that they study, because fish
abundance lately has been very scarce. I tell my husband that, regardless of the cooperative, we should look for a
project where we can start fish nurseries to be able to give it reproduction. But well, we told the cooperative, but
there isn't much interest. Most go with what they get day by day. Yes, I mean, we have to have a broader view,
because later on we are not going to leave anything. Our children will have problems. What a sadness to think
what we are leaving them with.”

56
“I'm going to be honest with you: in a very beautiful place like this, where there is a port, a beach, it's beautiful!
You can always live calmly here, if you want it, calm and happy, in peace. But when you have a son or a daughter,
whatever, well, you want the best for him. No, I don't want to, that is, she, well, not the same as me. My aspiration
is that they always go much further, much further”. (Juan Carlos)

79
 grabar. No, porque la verdad es que es grave hacer eso, es como un impacto
grande, hace años, basura todos los días día y de noche. [...] Yo he estado
pescando a veces hasta atrás y estoy viendo pasar la basura y le grita uno a el
mar lo va a sacar, es el destino, porque el mar, antes de que esa basura salga, ya
lo afectó. [...] Los pescadores entiendan que [el mar] es el sustento de cada uno,
ese lugar donde trae el sustento a la casa, debemos de cuidarlo, no echarle más
basura.57”

[Link] Tourism

All those interviewed showed interest in developing pescatourism projects with tourists, local
or international:

“Más turismo. En realidad, aquí lo que nos hace falta es la entrada del turismo.58”

One of the interviewees spontaneously raised the idea of organising whale watching excursions
with them:

“Lo que está pasando con las ballenas, eso es, como llevar turistas y que las vean
aquí, sí nos gustaría porque la tenemos cerquita [las ballenas]. De lejos, es como
de aquí a la mesa, o ahí donde está la puerta. Sí, ya ahorita en diciembre, de
hecho cuando llegan se escuchan, no las he visto todavía. Ya en la noche es

57
“It is important because you as biologists can do it, right? It could be done - it's a question - it could be done,
to force people to stop throwing things away? Fishing during the night I'm seeing this [...] What do we say to
them? No, the sea feeds us all the time and we fill it with garbage. They go - The sea takes it all out. It's a lie, the
[sea] doesn't take out the bag of cookies. It would be nice if you gave all of them a course, explaining them that
they are going to be fined if they are seen throwing garbage into the sea, and it is going to be recorded. Because
the truth is that it is serious to do that, it is like a big impact, since many years, garbage every day and night. [...]
I have been fishing sometimes back there, and I am watching the garbage go by and one yells at the sea - He is
going to take it out, it is how it goes, because the sea, before that garbage comes out, it has already been affected.
[...] The fishermen understand that [the sea] is the sustenance of each one, that place where they bring sustenance
to the house, we must take care of it, not throw more garbage into it.”

58
“More tourism. Actually, what we need here is the entry of tourism.”

80
 cuando las escuché la vez pasada. Cuando llueve, se escucha como brincan, y
abajo se escucha como gritan.59”

Most people commented that they would enjoy sharing their knowledge and their local way of
living with people - also known as Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK). All of them reported
that the main reason they would do it is for money, to have an additional source of income to
support themselves:

“Más por el dinero, porque es lo que se necesita.60”

As of today, and for approximately three years, some of the interviewees are currently
organising and experimenting with fishing tours options, together with the local tour operator,
roughly 5 times per month. They offer different kinds of tours, depending on the requests of
the clients: from catch-and-release to regular fishing, to diving experiences helping in the
collection of oysters from the seabed. Economically speaking, fishers gain significantly more
money than on a regular fishing day: for 4 hours of tour, they charge $3000 MXN -
approximately $150 USD, without considering the fee of the local tour operator. For
comparison, when a fishing day is extremely successful, they can make $1500/2000 MXN.
They do spend around $700 MXN of gasoline, but it is reported to be the largest expense, as
for an ordinary fishing day. The other economic challenges highlighted regard the rest of the
team, helping in conducting the operations:

“[Este] pesos no me van a alcanzar para pagarle al compañero que llevo, porque
el compañero va conmigo por cualquier cosa, accidente que es uno que está al
pendiente de la gente. Si va el capitán y el copiloto, y es bueno, porque siempre
[...] un accidente, cualquier cosa, uno está ahí.61”

59
“What is happening with the whales, that is, like taking tourists and seeing them here, we would like it because
we have it very close [the whales]. From a distance, it's like from here to the table, or there where the door is. Yes,
right now in December, in fact when they arrive, they can be heard, I haven't seen them yet. It was already at night
when I heard them last time. When it rains, you can hear how they jump, and down below you can hear how they
shout.”

60
"Mainly for the money, because that’s what we need."
61
“[This] pesos are not going to be enough to pay the partner that I take, because the partner goes with me for
anything, an accident that is one that is aware of people. If the captain and the co-pilot go, and it's good, because
always [...] an accident, whatever, one is there.”
81
Regarding this theme, it may be relevant to highlight that, depending on the type of activity
conducted, they are sometimes able to keep most of the catches, as usually tourists take away
only a small part to bring back at the hotel where the fish get cooked. Sometimes they also
offer a lunch service, mainly coordinating with the respective wives. It is reported that all the
interviewed offering this service own a restaurant and/or a tienda, where food is locally
prepared and sold occasionally during the week. These activities are principally run by their
wives and/or family.

When inquiring about the main challenges encountered - or that may arise - the fishers
mentioned the language barrier: no one considered it a limiting factor if a translator gets
onboard. In the case of the two that already organise these types of activities, the local tour
operator also provides translation work.
The lack of infrastructure is considered one of the main barriers to the development of tourism
in the area, as previously mentioned. Different problems associated with the lack of a
breakwater were identified, since without one the possibility of doing this activity strongly
depends on the strength of the ocean waves. This often ends up in cancelled tours, especially
because of security concerns that may arise for tourists. This is more noticeable in La Barrita,
where the sea needs to be in good condition to be able to offer this service. Instead in El
Cayacal, the docking operations are facilitated by the steep conformation of the port. However,
also there it is lamented the lack of a breakwater:

“¿Y para agarrar la lancha no ves que aquí no? Por eso estamos nosotros en dos.
Pero, osea, queremos, siempre hemos querido tener, aunque sea un rompeolas,
porque ya cuando el rompeolas ya va a ser más fácil dejar la lancha dentro del
agua, ya no sacarla la dejaste aquí, no vuelvo aquí en el puerto.62”

Regarding the direct sale of fish to the hospitality sector, the fishers do not consider it as a
possibility, as long as they are not sure of the quantity, frequency and commitment of the hotels
to purchase their product. Even if some attempts have been recorded in the past, the
interviewees highlighted the effort involved in going out fishing, and the lack of energy or

62
“And to catch the boat, don't you see that here, right? That's why we are in two. But, I mean, what we want,
what we've always wanted to have, it's a breakwater, because once the breakwater is done, it's going to be easier
to leave the boat in the water, you left it here after not taking it out, I'm not coming back here to the port.”

82
money to mobilise to directly conduct the selling operations as big barriers. Moreover, also the
size requested represents a challenge:

“No, no conviene [a vender] al pescado, no le conviene, porque [los hoteles],

solamente quieren pescado de un tamaño de 1 kg, y no siempre sale el pescado
de ese tamaño, es muy raro. Entonces cuando salen, te puedo decir un ejemplo,
10 pescados grandes y 50 chicos. [Los hoteles] nada más quieren el pescado
grande, y uno que hace con el pescado chico? Por eso uno tiene su comprador y
a ver que el señor que viene y se lleva todo el pescado: se lleva el grande, el
chico, el mediano y todo. Entonces, no conviene venderle los hoteles, a menos
que sabes que vamos a trabajar contigo. Yo entro a pescar todo lo que yo sé que
me lo vas a comprar diario, no cuando tú quieras.63”

4.2 Second-level interviews with relevant stakeholders

The second round of non-structured interviews has been conducted with relevant stakeholders
of the area. The four profiles have been identified as representative of relevant categories,
related with the SSFs sector for various reasons, in particular: a local tour operator, an
international tourism operator, an academic, and an environmental organisation representative.
The local tour operator, Johnny of Johnny’s Adventures, grew up in Juluchuca and is in very
close contact with the fishers’ community taken into account in this study: he is the one
organising the fishing tours and the principal connection to organise side activities for the
guests outside the resort. The international tourist operator, David Leventhal, is the owner of
the resort, representing the main driver of tourism in the area: he does not personally know the
fishers but knows where they operate and recognises their potential in the tourism industry.
Professor Eduardo Rodriguez held the course regarding Sustainable Development in the faculty
of Tourism of Universidad Autonoma de Guerrero, located in Zihuatanejo: he does not know
the cooperatives in particular but knows in-depth how the tourism sector can influence coastal

63
“No, it is not convenient [to sell] the fish to the hotels, because [the hotels] only want fish of a size of 1 kg, and
fish of that size do not always come out, it is very rare. So, when they come out, I can give you an example, 10
big fish and 50 small ones, [the hotels] only want the big fish, and what does one do with the small fish? That is
why one has a buyer and to see that the man who comes and takes all the fish: he takes the big one, the small one,
the medium one and everything. So, it is not convenient to sell the hotels, unless you know that we are going to
work with you. I go fishing for everything I know that you are going to buy me every day, not whenever you
want.”
83
communities. Lastly, Katherina Audley is a biologist, founder and director of the organisation
Ballenas de Guerrero, which has been operating for the last decade alongside with local fishers
to create “a viable, responsible whale watching industry along with other sustainable
ecotourism options will help to alleviate this financial pressure.” ([Link]).

The diagram presented in the methodology section (FIG. 3) has been used as a visual elicitation
to guide the discussions. Hereafter are presented the result of said discussions, with a focus on
the crucial point brought up by the interviewees.

4.2.1 Academia - Prof. Eduardo Rodriguez, Universidad Autonoma de Guerrero

During the interview conducted with Professor Eduardo Rodriguez, of the Universidad
Autonoma de Guerrero, the main focus was on the present and the future of the cooperatives,
in particular for what concerns the development of pescatourism activities. The potential of
fishing cooperatives as an instrument, considered fundamental to uplift local fishers’ voices at
governmental decision-making level, was often compared in relation to the actual use the sector
make of them:

“Lo importante aquí es que la cooperativa que tú tienes en el estudio - sí de esas

2 pequeñas cooperativas - estaría bueno enseñarles cuál sería su [...] su progreso
corporativo, que ellos tengan una estructura. ¿Cuál es su misión? ¿Cuál es su
visión? ¿Cuáles son sus objetivos, cuáles son sus valores, cuál es su
funcionalidad que tienen esas dos cooperativas? Es a veces difícil explicarles
para qué sirve una estructura organizacional, y una estructura organizacional
habla del principio de cuentas del grupo, de individuos que la conforman. ¿Cuál
es el grupo de individuos? Pues el desarrollo de un individuo tiene que ser tanto
personal, grupal como empresarial, porque es una empresa.64”

64
“The important thing here is that the cooperatives that you have in the study - yes, of those two small
cooperatives - it would be good to explain them what would be their [...] corporate progress, make sure that they
have a structure. [Ask them] What is your mission? What is your vision? What are their objectives, their values,
what is their function inside the cooperative? Sometimes it is difficult to explain what an organizational structure
is for, and an organizational structure speaks of the principle of a group, and so of the ones of the individuals that
compose it. And what is this group of individuals? Well, the development of an individual has to be both personal,
collective and business, because it is a business company.”

84
The organization in cooperatives can be an interesting and efficient way of giving structure to
smaller independent fishers, but its simple existence does not necessarily equal a success. In
unstable socio-economic conditions like the one described in these communities, it is easy to
have the presence of cooperatives that lacks a structural organisation, apart from the basic ones
required for its establishment. Even if the term itself may seem to refer to a basic level of
organisation, it can be difficult to structure a conversation between members, who may have
different necessities and objectives. This could be linked to the already extensively discussed
presence of personas problematicas inside the organization:

“[...] luego no se organizan bien, también tienen problemas internos. [...] ¿Es
más, la necesidad, no? Sucesivo es a la estructura organizacional, les va a
permitir de organizarse mejor, porque en una estructura organizacional vas a
poner normas, reglas, reglamentos. Y si firman todos un documento, es donde
todos estén de acuerdo. Se va a dar mal, que yo hable esto, todavía hay gente
como muy cerrada, y que mi idea es mi idea, y es la mejor. Porque la de él sí
está bien y la mía no, o sea, ese es el gran rollo que tienen. Creo que las
cooperativas sí se deben de llegar en un mismo camino y sí les ayudaría mucho
que tú les explicaras, o que alguien les explico, que en una estructura
organizacional, llamesé cooperativa, es bueno que tengan una misión. Porque en
una misión es que todos tienen que ir con esa misión y en una visión, todos tienen
que ir sobre esa visión: a dónde quieren llegar, dónde están y a dónde quieren
llegar y cuáles son mis objetivos. El objetivo general es que la cooperativa tenga
un beneficio común, porque es una comunidad, es un beneficio común. ¿Y
cuáles son mis objetivos específicos? Los anoto este, este y este, a lo mejor uno
es el beneficio de la cooperativa, el objetivo 2 el beneficio de la Comunidad, y
el número 3, el poder trasladar el beneficio.65”

65
“[...] then they are not well organized, they also have internal problems. [...] It's more, the necessity, right? Next
is the organizational structure, it will allow them to organize themselves better, because in an organizational
structure you are going to set norms, rules, regulations. And if they all sign a document, everyone needs to agree.
It's going to be bad for me to talk about this, but there are still people who are very closed, and that my idea is my
idea, and it's the best. Because his is fine and mine is not, that is, that is the great roll they have. I believe that the
cooperatives should arrive on the same path, and it would help them a lot if you explained to them, or if someone
explained to them, that in an organizational structure, called a cooperative, it is good that they have a mission.
Because in a mission everyone has to go with that mission and in a vision, everyone has to move accordingly to
that vision: where they want to go, where they are and where they want to go and what are my goals. The general
85
The importance of sharing a vision inside the cooperative has been stressed numerous times
during the interview, as this can allegedly affect the cohesion of the members. Also, the
probability of getting subsidies from the government has been linked to this: external
functionaries will be negatively impacted by the clashes present inside the cooperatives. In the
end, cohesion may represent a relevant factor in deciding to support more stable and affirmed
types of organisations, even if less in need, because of higher security of the investment and
more diffused benefits.

“Sé que ajá la calidad de vida es complicada, pero cuando ellos presenten un
proyecto así creo que el Gobierno los va a voltear a ver más fácil y las
oportunidades de ayuda van a ser - sabes que bajar recursos del nivel federal y
estatal es complicado - pero vuelvo a decir, mientras tengan un proyecto, que
sustente lo que ellos digan, entonces sí se puedes estar atacando al Gobierno
hasta que te de la ayuda. Pero mientras te estás peleando y quieres que te ayuden,
le doy el recurso y se lo seguiré en dos o tres, y los demás no fueron beneficiados.
Si, el beneficio del Gobierno es darte un presupuesto, pero que se beneficien
todos la comunidad.66”

Regarding governmental subsidies, interesting observations were made in respect to the size of
the population impacted: it could be relevant to outline how to involve the whole community
in this kind of actions and projects, in order to create meaningful changes for a larger portion
of the population. Ideally, it could be at municipal level, and not only to the people directly
involved in the fishing operation:

objective is for the cooperative to have a common benefit, because it is a community, it is a common benefit. And
what are my specific goals? I write down this, this and this, maybe the benefit of the cooperative is objective 2,
the benefit of the Community, and number 3, being able to transfer the benefit.”

66
“I know that the quality of life is complicated there, but when they present a project like this, I think the
Government will try to understand what is easier to achieve, and the opportunities for help will be - you know that
getting resources from the federal and statal level is complicated - but I say again, as long as they have a project
that supports what they say, then yes you can be attacking the Government until it gives you help. But while you
are fighting and you want [the Government] to help you, they may end up thinking that the resources will only be
shared between 2 or 3 people, and the others will not benefit from it. Yes, the idea is that the Government gives
you a budget, but that the whole community can benefit from."
86
 “Mira este, la mejor manera es hacer proyectos y convencer al Gobierno de que
vale la pena de invertir ahí. [...] Pero a ver cómo comparamos: Ixtapa-
Zihuatanejo es un destino turístico muy bonitos que tiene México a nivel
nacional, y sin embargo no tenemos un muelle, no tenemos la infraestructura, en
Zihuatanejo ni en Ixtapa. Y es el que genera la cuestión del sector económico,
más en todo lo que es Costa Grande. Y porque no ayudará Zihuatanejo. ¿Y por
qué ayudará Juluchuca? Si aquí entra más dinero, si aquí la afluencia turística
aquí es de 1000, por 1 allá. [...] Sí, pero hay intereses. ¿Cuál es el beneficio
común de una población? Si vas a beneficiar a una población de 400/300
pobladores, cuando puedes beneficiar a una población de casi 120000 habitantes,
tú como Gobierno ¿Cuál es tu prioridad? Las 2 tienen que ser tu prioridad. [...]
¿Cuál tiene más auge? ¿Cuál es el destino? Para a ver, el aeropuerto, que los
turistas llegan al aeropuerto de Zihuatanejo, ese es un beneficio común. Deberían
destinarle el beneficio a las dos, no solamente a una población.67”

The necessity for cohesion as a cooperative has been identified as extremely relevant, in
particular when we refer to the future. Indeed, it could influence the success of future tourist
business, such as pescatourism activities or whale watching:

“Ellos tienen un recurso ahí, una lancha, a lo mejor una lancha de la cooperativa,
destinarla y arreglarla para el beneficio que todos tienen. Por eso te digo, se
tienen que unir. Si tienen a lo mejor 3/4 embarcaciones, una embarcación decir
destinarla para lo que son las actividades turísticas, arreglar eso les costaría
menos. ¿Por qué? Porque entonces por eso se llama cooperativa, se coopera y si

67
“Look, the best way to carry out projects is to convince the Government that it is worth investing there. [...]
But let's compare: Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo is a very beautiful tourist destination that Mexico has nationwide, and yet
we don't have a pier, we don't have the infrastructure, in Zihuatanejo or in Ixtapa [talking about cruise ships’ pier].
And [this destination] is the one that generates the main income of the economic sector, more than everything else
in Costa Grande. And Zihuatanejo will not be helped. Why Juluchuca should get help? If more money enters here,
if the tourist influx here is 1000, for 1 there. [...] There are interests. What is the common benefit of a population?
If you are going to benefit a population of 400/300 inhabitants, when you can benefit a population of almost
120,000 inhabitants, you as a government, what is your priority? The two have to be your priority. [...] But which
one is more booming? What is the destination? For example, the airport, that tourists arrive at the Zihuatanejo
airport, that is a common benefit. They should allocate the benefit of both, not just of one population.”
87
 pueden sacar todavía ayuda federal o estatal, de que alguien quiera aportar para
que esa cooperativa mejore, todavía es mejor.68”

Since governmental support remain difficult to expect now, the possible involvement of private
businesses and the idea of regenerative travel was discussed. The collaboration between the
private and public sector has been highlighted as a fundamental condition:

“Yo creo que ahí es dificil, y personas como tú y como otras gentes que tengan
conocimiento del hábitat que hay ahí, pueden hacer un proyecto integral para
convencer al Gobierno de que necesitan ese apoyo porque es un proyecto
integral en beneficio no solamente de una comunidad, el beneficio va a ser
municipal, y va a ser estatal y el beneficio también viene siendo nacional, o sea
vas a beneficiar todo el entorno. Y es convencerlos que ese beneficio no
solamente es para la localidad, ese beneficio lo basado es pasar al bien común
de cualquier mexicano.69”

Finally, another relevant point raised, is the effective reliability of the information collected,
for what concern the real problems of the cooperatives: academic interviews in these
environments could be erroneously associated by the people interviewed to the presence of
funding, ready to be allocated. In this way, people may not reflect on actual problem, but may
only be focused on reporting expensive actions needed. This factor needs to be considered, in
particular when analysing the limitations of the study:

“Cuando haces este tipo de estudios, con entrevistas a las personas, regularmente
las personas no ven una entrevista para un una cuestión académica, la mayoría

68
“They have a resource there, a boat, maybe a boat from the cooperative: they could allocate it and fix it for the
benefit of everyone. That's why I tell you, they have to unite. If they have maybe 3/4 boats, one boat to allocate
for tourist activities, fixing that, would cost them less. Because? Because then that's why it's called a cooperative,
it cooperates and if they can still get federal or state aid, if someone wants to contribute to improve that
cooperative, it's even better.”

69
“I believe that it is difficult there, and people like you who have knowledge of the habitat that is there, can carry
out a comprehensive project to convince the Government that they need that support because it is a comprehensive
project that not only benefits the community, the benefit will be municipal, and it will be state and the benefit will
also be national, that is, you will benefit the entire environment. And it is to convince them that this benefit is not
only for the locality, that benefit is based on passing to the common good of any Mexican.”

88
 del tiempo se entiende como la oportunidad de a ver si tú les puedes ayudar a
solucionar un problema que ellos tienen.70”

4.2.2 Local tourism operator - Johnny Adventures

In the interview conducted with the local tour operator, interesting points emerged regarding
the history of the cooperatives, the development of local pescatours activities, and how they
differ from the ones offered in Zihuatanejo. As many of the people living in these coastal
communities, the tour operator grew up in the area but spent a big portion of his life in the
United States. Because of this, he speaks English and knows very well the portion of the
tourism market he is relating with.

“Sé que existen lo que son dos cooperativas aquí está: una es de buzos y la otra
sí es de pescadores. Estoy en contacto con ellos porque por medio de mis
actividades del turismo: los contratos para hacer pesca [...]. Entonces somos
conocidos desde niños, estudiamos juntos con algunos compañeros y pues las
cooperativas son uniónes de grupos, de pescadores, las cuales tratan de hacer sus
propios reglamentos y hacer sus propias maneras de pescar, de tratar de ellos:
sobrevivir y tratar de vender su pescado.71”

Because of the strong relationship intertwining these people, a deep knowledge of the territory
and its history is revealed, but also of the fishing cooperatives and their present challenges. For
example, regarding shrimp trawlers:

“[Los barcos camaroneros] les afecta bastante, ya que pues ahora sí que una
oyente al pescado, otra matan de todo, siempre que vemos los barcos

70
“When you do this type of study, with interviews with people, regularly people do not see an interview for an
academic question, most of the time it is understood as the opportunity to see if you can help them solve a problem
that they have."

71
“I know that there are 2 cooperatives here: one is for divers and the other is for fishermen. I am in contact with
them because of my tourism activities: I contract them to go fishing [...]. So, we have known each other since we
were children, we studied together with some of them and, well, the cooperatives are unions of groups, of
fishermen, who try to make their own regulations and make their own ways of fishing, to try to survive and to sell
their fish."

89
 camaroneros grandes vemos muchas tortugas que salen a flote porque se
atoraron en las redes y como no la pueden llevar, no la pueden hacer nada la
tiran al agua y el mismo humor la sacan entonces siempre que veíamos barcos
camaroneros, barcos atuneros. Más camaroneros, que son los que vemos que
andaban con sus redes por acá cerca este, sabíamos que iba a haber muchas
tortugas muertas. Les ha afectado bastante eso72”

Also, the problem related to personas problematicas was pointed out, related to the
impossibility of the cooperative to enforce their regulations and the ability of obtaining
governmental funds:

“[...] uno de los problemas es de que son cooperativas, tienen sus reglamentos,
pero no hay nadie en detrás que haga que se cumplan esos reglamentos. Ya que
pues vienen buzos, vienen pescadores de otros lugares y empiezan a afectarles
por la razón de que usa un sistema diferente, no? Usan redes, no respetan las
vedas que hacen este, entonces, son uno de los problemas. [...] También a la
pesca hace falta un poquito más de reglamentos, ya que pues le digo, la mayoría
vemos que el pescado pequeño se vende más que el pescado grande, entonces
ellos sacan todo tipo de pescado pequeño grandes y pues como lo ven sacan su
dinero, pues ellos no le tienen un reglamento, no ciertas medidas ciertos este
pescado. [...] Sí, ahí sí, se une cuando hay algún apoyo, una ayuda ahí, si todos
están juntos, todos se van juntos, todos llevan juntos y en esa manera, pero de
ahí en lo demás no hay una unidad al 100%.73”

72
“[The shrimp boats] affect them a lot, since now one listens to the fish, other kills everything, whenever we see
the big shrimp boats, we see many turtles that float because they got stuck in the nets and how they won't take it,
they can't do anything, they throw it into the water and the same humor they take it out. Then whenever we see
shrimp boats, also tuna boats, but more shrimpers, which are the ones we see walking around with their net, we
knew there would be a lot of dead turtles here nearby. This one has affected them a lot.”

73
“[...] one of the problems is that they are cooperatives, they have their regulations, but there is no one behind
that enforces those regulations. Well, divers come, fishermen from other places come and it starts to affect them
because they use a different gear, right? They use nets, they do not respect the closed seasons, so they are one of
the problems. [...] Fishing also needs a little more regulation, since I told you, most of us see that small fishes sell
more than big fishes, so they catch all kinds of big, small fish and well, as they see it, they get their money, because
they do not have a regulation, they do not have certain measures, certain fish sizes. [...] Yes, there yes, it unites
when there is some support, help there, if everyone is together, everyone leaves together, everyone leads together,
but from then on there is no unity at all, not 100%.”

90
Moreover, the interview pointed out the less-discussed thematic of plastic waste, and in general
contamination problems:

“También hace falta un poco más de conciencia de enseñanza sobre lo que es la

contaminación, de como ellos mismos pueden apoyar, se ven plástico flotando,
pueden ponerlo en una bolsa para que se saque, no? Entonces se deja y le hace
falta un poquito más de en orientación, en eso no, en lo que es la conciencia de
la contaminación y este y lo que es.74”

It is interesting to notice that this problematic was reported also among fishers, even if in
smaller measure. Possibly, this is because of its relative weight for the different activities: while
tourism can be strongly influenced by the presence of waste, even more in a site of natural
relevance, fishing is not linked to this on the short term. In particular:

“[...] con el turismo yo algo que puedo notar mucho, tanto en los pescaderos
como en los restaurantes, que hace falta también un poquito de entrenamiento
para servicio de turismo. ¿Por qué? Porque estamos acostumbrados a servir a los
locales, a nosotros mismos que nos conocemos entonces. Al turismo está
acostumbrados a veces a una manera diferente, no? Entonces, hace falta, le digo
lo que es la orientación, lo que es el la enseñanza. Vuelvo a repetirle programas
de conciencia. Ajá, porque en una actuación le dije a una mesera, llegué con mi
cuñado, mi hermana y llegamos a comer ahí y me abrió un refresco a mí, y la
tapa pues la tiró a la arena. Entonces el le dije a la mesera, y yo le digo - Mira,
ahorita [...] pues somos nosotros, pero no está bien, porque eso va a tardar años
para que eso se deshaga, no se caiga, y ya no lo vuelves a ver, entonces yo te
recomiendo que cuando venga algún cliente agarre esas corcho, lata y te la lleves
contigo porque hay algunos que son conscientes y te pueden llamar la atención.
Y de ahí empiezan a veces los problemas con los mismos seres porque se ha

74
“There is also a need for a little more awareness, teaching about what pollution is, and how they can support it,
and when they see plastic floating, they can put it in a bag to be removed, right? So, this is missing, and it is
needed, a little more orientation, not in that, in what is the awareness of contamination and this and what it is.
91
 visto ocasiones que se palabrean, salen mal porque no les gusta como avanza, se
les diga como hagan su servicio [...]75”

The activity of the company always focused on offering local tourism experiences - also
identifiable as community-based. In collaboration with the fishers, they recently started to
organise pescatours activities:

“¿Hace 3 años que comenzamos? 3 años, fuimos a verlos, ya por la necesidad

también de que, pues necesitamos hacer algo local, experiencias nuevas,
experiencias locales, que se conociera también como se pesca en esta zona,
porque cada región, cada estado, tiene su manera de pescar. Y pues fue lo que
empezamos a promover, lo de aquí mismo.76”

The local ecological knowledge held by the fishers rapidly became the main value of the tours,
also determining the perceived authenticity of the experience:

“Bueno, la diferencia entre los tours aquí es la experiencia que viven, ya que en
Zihuatanejo se enfocan más en el en el dinero, no importandose del cliente, si se
quedó contento, si saco pescado no sacó pescado. Las embarcaciones también
son muy diferentes, allá están especialmente diseñadas para turismo, aquí son
embarcaciones que son para pesca local, para experiencias locales, no? Entonces

75
“[...] with tourism I can notice a lot, both in fishers and in restaurants, that a little training is also needed for
tourism service, because we are used to serving locals, ourselves, who know ourselves. But sometimes tourists
are accustomed to different ways of doing things, right? So, I tell them it is necessary some guidance, some
teaching. I repeat, awareness programs again. Aha, because, for example, I was in this situation, I arrived with my
brother-in-law, my sister and we got to eat there and the waitress opened a soft drink for me, and she threw the
lid into the sand. So, he told the waitress, and I told her - Look, right now [...] well it's us, but it's not right, because
it's going to take years for it to get rid of, so doesn’t fall out and you never see it again. So, I recommend you that
when a client comes, grab those corks, cans and take it with you because there are some who are aware and may
call your attention. And from there the problems sometimes begin with the same beings because we have seen
occasions that clients gossip, it goes wrong because they do not like how it goes, and they need to be told how
they do their service [...] "

76
“Has it been 3 years since we started? 3 years ago, we went to see them, and also because of the need to do
something local, new experiences, local experiences, so that people would also get to know how we fish in this
area, because each region, each state, has its own way of fishing. And well, it was what we began to promote,
right here.”

92
 la diferencia aquí es que los mismos pescadores los tratan como si fueran ya
personas de la familia. Se sienten contentos porque has de cuenta que van a
pescar con amigos, les muestran cómo pescar al estilo que ellos lo hacen: aquí
no es solamente pesca deportiva, sino también es la pesca que ellos hacen, que
es este con línea para sacar el huachinango, tirolean, bucean. O sea, es muy
diferente, hacen varias actividades. Allá es solamente el enfoque de la pesca y
nomás. Entonces, la experiencia que viven es una experiencia única, local, con
las mismas experiencias que ellos tienen. No es enfoque solamente haz turismo
y queremos ganar nuestro dinero y listo, no, ahí es muy diferente.77”

As expected, it is not always favourable to try and organise this kind of experiences, especially
for locals:

“¿Pues sí, a veces se me hace dificil hacer lo que son las experiencias locales, ya
que yo me enfoque, son tours en las comunidades, llevarle a las comunidades
alrededor de aquí, de, del hotel, no? Entonces, hay veces que es un poquito difcil
porque la gente a veces es un poco timida, hay veces que no hay lo los las
herramientas especiales para hacer un tour.78”

Looking at the experiences from a touristic point of view, the feedback received by the tourists
are incredibly positive, and it stands out that the value of getting to know real-life experiences
of the local community is unique and priceless:

77
“Well, the difference between the tours here is the experience they live, since in Zihuatanejo they focus more
on money, they do not care a lot about the client, if he is happy, if he caught a fish or if he didn't catch anything.
The boats are also very different, there they are specially designed for tourism, here the boats are for local fishing,
for local experiences, right? So, the difference here is that the same fishers treat them as if they were already
family members. They feel happy because it seems to go fishing with friends, they show them how to fish the way
they do: here it is not only sport fishing, but it is also the fishing that they do, which is this one with a line to catch
the red snapper, zip line, dive. I mean, it's very different, they do various activities. There it is only the approach
of fishing and nothing more. So, the experience they live is a unique, local experience, with the same experiences
that they have. It's not just about tourism and we want to earn our money and that's it, no, it's very different there.”

78
“Well, yes, sometimes it is difficult for me to do the local experiences, since I focus on tours in the communities,
taking them to the communities around here from the hotel, right? So, there are times when it is a little difficult
because people are sometimes a little shy, there are times when there are no special tools to do a tour.”

93
 “Quedan encantados. Es una experiencia que solamente aquí la han vivido. Por
los que ya han contratado sus tours de pesca en otros lugares, lo que dicen es que
ese tipo de pesca que hacen es divertida, y se sienten como en familia.79”

The natural features of the coast were also discussed as important, pointing out the perspective
of tourists whose feels like having a unique chance to access “untouched” scenery and
ecosystems:

“Correcto, eso es parte de lo que tenemos, también que se nos hace bonito, que
hasta ahorita no se ha hecho el desarrollo grande, entonces no se ha dañado el
ecosistema, entonces como es pequeño, la mayoría le encanta. Es un paraíso
porque está privado.80”

Because this kind of local experience is new, his company has offered, and continues to offer,
fishing tour experiences in Zihuatanejo. This allowed us to explore the main differences
between fishing tourism in a consolidated touristic destination and rural communities:

“Sí, bueno, en esta manera, por ejemplo, comparándolos con los tours que se
hacen en Zihuatanejo, es también ya que el tipo de embarcación no es igual que
la de Zihuatanejo, más sin embargo se está pagando igual como si fuera en
Zihuatanejo. ¿Entonces, cuál es la diferencia? Por qué se paga igual si la
embarcación es menos si lo que le ofrecen es menos, si todo es menor es más
que nada es la experiencia: lo bonito que se vive en este tipo diferente de tours.
Entonces en Zihuatanejo te venden la embarcación que está limpia, que está con
sombra, que tiene colchones. Los asientos que traen buenas cañas, que traen
música, entonces esto es lo que te están vendiendo. Aquí no, aquí no, aquí te
están vendiendo la experiencia más que nada, no en los que te venden, entonces
el precio es igual, como si se pagara en zihuatanejo, ya que es una pesca chica a

79
“They are delighted. It is an experience that they only lived here. For those who have already experienced
fishing tours in other places, what they say is that this type of fishing they do is fun, and they feel like family.”

80
“Correct, that is part of what we have, also that we find it beautiful, that until now the big development has not
been done, so the ecosystem has not been damaged, so since it is small, most of them love it. It is a paradise
because it is private.”

94
 la que hacemos nos vamos mar adentro por la orilla. ¿Y su este su entrada, le
digo de línea económica para ellos es mucho mejor que como si fueran a pescar
[...]81”

This point is particularly interesting because it let us first-hand access the difference between
recreational fishing - also known as Big Game Fishing - and pescatourism activities,
highlighted also in literature.

“El costo, normalmente MXN 2000/2200 pesos, lo que se paga por el viaje en
Zihuatanejo te la están cobrando entre MXN 2200/2500 pesos, es lo que están
cobrando allá en simultáneo ya la experiencia para la pesca grande son entre
MXN 5000/6000 pesos depende de la embarcación, depende el tamaño y
depende el tipo, y la cantidad de personas. [...] Bueno, yo aquí vengo y pago el
costo, lo que ellos me cobran ahí es solamente la embarcación, las cañas, yo las
pongo, las bebidas yo las pongo, los snacks yo los pongo, entonces yo estoy
poniendo todo eso, cuando en Zihuatanejo me dan aguas, me dan bebidas, me
dan todos, ellos ponen todo, pero aquí en este caso yo lo hago. ¿Por qué? ¿Porque
no se me hace justo decirles a los pescadores, te voy a pagar la mitad o te voy a
pagar menos? ¿Ajá, y este y tú y yo pongo todo o sabes que te voy a pagar lo
que te lo que tengo pagar, pero tú pones todo, no? ¿Entonces, por qué? ¿Porque
me gusta apoyar a las mismas personas de las comunidades, no? Entonces,
porque yo sé que a veces el mismo turismo, al final todo eso que yo compré con
una propina lo recupero para atrás. ¿No? Entonces, en esa manera le digo, yo no
lo veo tanto en ganar todo para mí, sino que todos tenemos las comisiones que

81
“Yes, well, in this way, for example, comparing them with the tours that are done in Zihuatanejo, it is also
because the type of boat is not the same as the one in Zihuatanejo, but nevertheless it is paying the same as if it
were in Zihuatanejo. So, what is the difference? Why do you pay the same if the boat is less, if what they offer
you is less, if everything is less, it is more than anything, it is the experience: the beauty of living in this different
type of tours. So, in Zihuatanejo they sell you the boat that is clean, that is shaded, that has mattresses. The seats
that bring good reeds, that bring music, then this is what they are selling you. Not here, not here, here they are
selling you the experience more than anything, not in the ones that sell you, so the price is the same, as if it were
paid in Zihuatanejo, since it is a small fishing that we do, we go to sea in by the shore. And if this is their entry, I
tell you about the economic line for them is much better than if they went fishing [...]"
95
 se tienen que dar. Por ejemplo, a los lugares que tenemos que rentar para poder
vender el paquete, vender el turismo, pues hay que pagar una comisión.82”

On the other side, his position also let us confirm from another point of view what are the
fishers’ thoughts on organizing this kind of experience, already expressed during the first round
of interviews with them:

“Turismo muy bien, ha sido muy bueno. ¿Muchos de los pescadores les ha
gustado eh? Ya que de la pesca ellos van, a lo mejor, si hay pescado, a lo peor
no hay pescado Entonces si hay pescado, hay dinero, si no hay pescado, pues no
hay dinero. Cuando hacemos los tours ellos hacen lo posible para que el cliente
quede contento y saque su pescado, pero si no hay pescado, ellos, sobre todos
modos, ya tienen ganado su dinero, no? Entonces ajá no es nada seguro, no, pero
es algo que no se divierte; y como ellos son buzos también, pues si no sacan
pescados pues se sacan ostiones o sacan otro tipo de marisco ¿para que coman,
no? Porque [los turistas] se sientan bien.83”

Indeed, it is clear that there some difficulties arises during the organisation of this kind of
experiences, in particular when confronting with different type of tourists: the effort of the

82
“The cost, normally MXN 2,000/2,200 pesos, what you pay for the trip in Zihuatanejo they are charging
between MXN 2,200/2,500 pesos, that is what they are charging there simultaneously, and the experience for big
fishing is between MXN 5,000 /6000 pesos depends on the boat, depends on the size and depends on the type,
and the number of people. [...] Well, I come here and pay the cost, what they charge me there is only the boat, the
beers, I put them, the drinks I put, the snacks I put, so I am putting everything that, when in Zihuatanejo they give
me water, they give me drinks, they give me all, they put everything, but here in this case I do it. Because? Why
isn't it fair for me to tell the fishermen, am I going to pay you half or am I going to pay you less? Aha, and this
and you and I put everything up or you know that I'm going to pay you what I have to pay, but you put everything
up, right? Then why? Because I like to support the same people in the communities, right? So, because I know
that sometimes the same car, in the end, I get everything that I bought with a tip back. No? So, in that way I tell
you, I don't see it so much in winning everything for me, but rather that we all have the commissions that have to
be given. For example, to the places that we have to rent to be able to sell the package, to sell tourism, because
you have to pay a commission.”

83
“Very good tourism, it has been very good. Many of the fishermen have liked it huh. Since they go fishing,
maybe, if there are fish, at worst, there are no fish. So, if there are fish, there is money, if there are no fish, well,
there is no money. When we do the tours, they do their best to make the customer happy and get their fish, but if
there are no fish, they, anyway, have already earned their money, right? So aha, it's not safe at all, no, but it's
something that isn't fun; And since they are also divers, well, if they don't catch fish, they catch oysters or other
types of shellfish, so they can eat, right? Because [tourists] feel good.”

96
tourist operator to explain and educate the tourists on the kind of activity they are about to
experience is fundamental for the overall success of the tour.

“En Zihuatanejo pues eso es más enfoque al turismo y aquí le digo, solamente
son pescadores locales y si yo tengo un tour de pesca, tengo que llamarles antes,
porque ellos ya tienen programado el horario en el que van a ir a pescar.
Entonces, si yo lo llamo antes, ellos saben que mañana nos vamos a pescar
porque tengo un tour de otra manera, pues ellos tienen que hacer su, lo que es su
vida, su rutina del diario. De ir a pescar a su manera. [...]84”.

Another challenge highlighted for the development of pescatourism has been related to
infrastructure, as previously mentioned by fishers:

“Entonces en esa manera, por ejemplo, en la pesca tenemos una sola lancha en
La Barrita. Hay veces que tenemos clientes, 3/4 familias que quieren ir, pero
nomás tenemos una sola lancha y tenemos que esperar hasta el siguiente día
porque no hay otra alrededor.85”

While the presence of better infrastructure could benefit both sectors, it is important to remind
that this is particularly true when analysing the potential for touristic activities, as it can be
linked to safety issues for tourists. For example, talking about the need for a pier or a
breakwater:

“¿Sí, de hecho, como no tenemos un muelle, no tenemos una bahía, hay que
atravesar las olas, todo el cliente, cuando ve las olas, pues le da un poquito de
temor, no? ¿Pero les damos sus chalecos, les damos sus este indicaciones, les
decimos cómo vamos a pasar y ya cuando ellos van en camino, que ya pasamos

84
“In Zihuatanejo, well, that is more of a focus on tourism and here I tell you, they are only local fishermen and
if I have a fishing tour, I have to call them beforehand, because they have already scheduled the time they are
going to go fishing. So, if I call them before, they know that tomorrow we are going fishing because I have a tour
in a different way, because they have to do their, what is their life, their daily routine. To go fishing your way. [...]

85
“So, in that way, for example, in fishing we have only one boat in La Barrita. There are times when we have
clients, 3/4 families who want to go, but we only have one boat, and we have to wait until the next day because
there is no other one around.”

97
 las olas, ahora sí que se ponen bien tranquilos, pero todos los todos los huéspedes
al principio se pone un poco nervioso, no? ¿En esa manera no se ponen como
diciendo Hijuela, cómo vamos a hacerle, no? Pero ya cuando le digo, termina el
tour y todo eso y salimos, pues ellos quedaron bien, contentos. ¿Pero piensas
siempre al llegar tienen el temor de decir ni cómo le vamos a hacer para pasar,
no?86”

Lack of infrastructure limits the possibility of welcoming tourists, making it difficult to ensure
the certain feasibility of the pescatours: when it is not possible, the tour organizer always keep
open the possibility of doing something different, in more consolidated touristic locations along
the coast:

“¿Entonces ellos como pescadores, me dicen, Sabes que o no podemos entrar?

¿Por qué? Para no arriesgar el turismo. Siempre ellos me dicen, es que no se
puede, y si no se puede les damos la opción, ahora sí, de las partes de afuera, que
son Zihuatanejo, que son este Barra de Potosí, que es Puerto Vicente, y si ellos
dicen sí, vamos allá, entonces ya los llevo, pero le digo como siempre lo he
dicho, mi enfoque siempre es en las comunidades locales de aquí cerca.87”

Another limiting factor identified was the linguistic barriers between the fishers and the
tourists:

“El otro [desafío] es el idioma. Hay personas que no hablan el inglés, entonces
no es la misma experiencia cuando va alguien interpretándole o va alguien

86
“Yes, in fact, since we don't have a dock, we don't have a bay, you have to cross the waves, all the clients, when
they see the waves, it scares them a little bit, right? But do we give them their vests, give them their directions,
tell them how we're going to get through and when they're on their way, we've already passed the waves, now
they really calm down, but all the guests at first It makes you a little nervous, doesn't it? In that way, they don't
seem to say Hijuela, how are we going to do it, right? But when I tell them, the tour is over and all that and we
leave, well they were fine, happy... But do you always think when they arrive, they are afraid to say how we are
going to do to get through, no?"

87
“So, they, as fishermen, tell me, do you know what or we can't enter? Because? In order not to risk tourism.
They always tell me, it is that it cannot be done, and if it is not possible, we give them the option, now yes, of the
parts outside, which are Zihuatanejo, which are this Barra de Potosí, which is Puerto Vicente, and if they say yes,
we're going there, so I'll take you, but I'm telling you like I've always said, my focus is always on the local
communities around here.”
98
 hablando con ellos en inglés, no mostrándole la experiencia y todo eso. Entonces
hace falta. ¿Le digo todo ese tipo de cosas que ir arreglándolas, no?88”

Indeed, discussing on the possibility of creating a consolidated business out of pescatours for
fishers, the natural predisposition of the different people was pointed out:

“Hace falta un poquito de orientaciones en los pescadores, le digo, para el

turismo. [Los pescadores] lo tienen que respetar [los turistas], siempre tienen
que mostrarle que se tienen, que sentir seguros adentro. Hay ahí con ellos, que
no se sientan intimidados, sino que se sientan seguros. Entonces, hasta ahorita
le digo con los que hemos trabajado con [pescadores] luego son con los demás
trabajadores y ellos siempre han hecho eso, hacerlo sentir como si fueran parte
de la familia. Entonces no todos trabajan así. Hay otros son serios, no hablan, no
platican. ¿Entonces hace falta eso? También que tenemos que mostrarle lo que
tenemos alrededor. Mira aquí tenemos esto, aquí tenemos lo otro, enseñarle lo
que hay. No, no es lo más el que hay adictos, sino platicar con ellos.89”

Talking about future opportunities for the cooperatives and tourism, it was again stressed the
necessity for the cooperatives to unite and be compact on their future visions, not just as
individuals:

“¿Cuál es el cambio que se podría hacer en las cooperativas? Bueno, pues en sí

en sí es la misma cooperativa la que tiene que buscar la solución, porque el
turismo ve las diferencias, ve lo que está pasando, ve lo que sucede. Pero pues
no puedes, no se puede hacer nada, no hay nadie. Lo único que sí podríamos

88
“The other [challenge] is the language. There are people who don't speak English, so it's not the same experience
when someone interprets for them or someone speaks to them in English, not showing them the experience and
all that. So, it is needed. I tell him all those kinds of things to go fixing them, right?"

89
“A little guidance is needed for fishermen, I tell you, for tourism. [The fishermen] have to respect him [the
tourists], they always have to show him that they have each other, that they feel safe inside. There is there with
them, that they do not feel intimidated, but that they feel safe. So, until now I tell you with those we have worked
with [fishermen] then they are with the other workers, and they have always done that, make them feel as if they
were part of the family. So not everyone works like that. There are others who are serious, they don't speak, they
don't talk. So, is that necessary? Also, that we have to show him what we have around us. Look here we have this,
here we have the other, show him what there is. No, it's not the most that there are addicts, but talking with them.”
99
 hacer nosotros es tener reuniones con las cooperativas, mostrarle lo que podrían
hacer, qué se puede, qué les va a beneficiar, si ellos lo hacen de la manera que
uno les enseñe, en qué manera, que el cuál es la ganancia que ellos obtendrían.
No, de todo eso, porque ellos por años sí han tratado, pero como es una
cooperativa, pero no hay una unidad que todos se unan al mismo tiempo.
Entonces, hace falta, le digo más que nada como una enseñanza. ¿Te sabes que
mira si tu regeneras la pesca? Si tú proteges esta área, si tú haces esto, si tú haces
acá, si tu este cuidas, ellos dicen, pues es que si lo hacemos, si decimos vamos a
cuidar esta zona. Vamos a proteger esta zona. Y hay 3 o cuatro pescadores que
sí lo hacen, pero 8 o 10 a las escondidas van y pesca, entonces no hay quien los
apoye en ¿Esa manera no? ¿Entonces, qué es lo que se? Qué es lo que puede
hacer el turismo en eso para beneficiarlos, pues es solamente hacerle como
reuniones y mostrarle que sí se puede, que si se unen si se puede regenerar y si
se puede crecer en la cooperativa.90”

In the end, the possibility of extending the activities provided locally to snorkelling experiences
and in general diving tourism was discussed:

“[...] de hecho estoy trabajando en hacer las actividades como de buceo por esta
zona que ya que no tenemos una escuela de buceo alrededor, hay que llevarlos
hasta Zihuatanejo, entonces, yo estoy trabajando en tratar de tener a una persona
certificada y habrá una escuela de buceo aquí cerca, por explorar la zona de aquí
y llevarlos a los lugares que puede bucear el snorkel. Hasta ahorita no, no hemos
explorado tampoco [...] Pero si se puede también hacer entonces explorar si hay
alguna lugares donde hays arrecifes de corales, donde haya manera, donde

90
“What is the change that could be made in the cooperatives? Well, in itself it is the same cooperative that has
to find the solution, because tourism sees the differences, it sees what is happening, it sees what is happening. But
you can't, nothing can be done, there's no one. The only thing that we could do is have meetings with the
cooperatives, show them what they could do, what can be done, what will benefit them, if they do it the way you
teach them, in what way, what is it? the profit they would get. Not all of that, because they have tried for years,
but since it is a cooperative, there is not a unit that everyone joins at the same time. So, it is necessary, I tell him
more than anything as a lesson. Do you know what to look for if you regenerate fishing? If you protect this area,
if you do this, if you do it here, if you take care of it, they say, well, if we do it, if we say we're going to take care
of this area. We are going to protect this area and there are 3 or four fishermen who do, but 8 or 10 sneakily go
and fish, so there is no one to support them, right? So, what do I know? What can tourism do in that to benefit
them, because it is only to hold meetings and show them that it can be done, that if they come together, they can
regenerate and grow in the cooperative.”
100
 puedan snorkel ellos más tranquilos y no van a ser golpeados por una ola o daño,
o lastimados, no con las mismas piedras. Claro, pero sí estamos trabajando en
eso. Sí hay potencial para, más que nada, para buceo, para sí hay mucho lugar
donde bucear. [...] Este crecimiento en turismo sí, también se han hecho, están
haciendo desarrollos turísticos y va creciendo, entonces sí se va a requerir de
lugares [...] como escuelas de turismo, donde pueda hacerse más actividades,
no? Pues ya que le digo por la zona, soy el único que está certificado por sector
y pues no se da un, uno necesita uno más apoyo, necesita uno más ayuda a pesar
falta todo.91”

4.2.3 International tourism operator - Playa Viva

David Leventhal is the owner of the regenerative resort Playa Viva, the closest driver of
international tourism, among others in the area. inside the innovative concept of regenerative
tourism there is the idea of regenerating the territory and the communities close-by, as a way
to give back and not only exploit a place. During the interview we tried to understand how this
kind of activities can successfully relate to the local fishing cooperatives. Being established in
the area for the past 15 years, the hotel extensively interacted with the local community, for
what concern commercial purposes but also for the pro-poor activities, at the base of the
concept of regenerative travel. The level of understanding on LEK and problematics of the
communities are perceived, even if from a distance:

“Ok, I can only talk about it from my perspective, my history, because I haven’t
been fishing with these guys at all, I really have no first-hand knowledge. I don't
think I've ever met with them. But you see a fisherman going out of here. I'm
assuming they use fairly traditional small-scale means of fishing. And then, I
remember, while you see. Really big net fishing boats here. And after those guys

91
" [...] I am working on doing activities such as diving in this area, since we do not have a diving school around,
we have to take them to Zihuatanejo, so I am working on trying to have a person certified here and will be a diving
school nearby, for exploring the area here and taking them to places where you can snorkel. Until now no, we
have not explored either [...] But if it can also be done then explore if there are any places where there are coral
reefs, where there is a way, where they can snorkel calmly and not being hit by a wave or injuring themselves
more than anything, for diving, yes there is a lot of places to dive. [...] This growth in tourism yes, they have also
been developing tourism and it is growing, so places like tourism schools are going to be required [...] where more
activities can be done, no? Well, since I told you about the area here, I am the only one that is certified and well,
I don't, I need more support, I need one more help despite everything is missing.”
101
 are here. Usually, you find a bunch of dead turtles on the beach. You know those
guys here. Because of being extractive and destructive. [...] Obviously
enforcement is a big issue, you know, Mexican government is not effective in
enforcement, and there were other forces and factors that can and are the de facto
enforcement, which I think [it is the reason why] we're willing to step up to the
plate and do the job here.”

Speaking of international tourism, it is recognized that food contributes to local attractiveness

and can play a relevant part in shaping the touristic experience, as one of the most important
features of tourism in the area. This has been identified as one of the main reasons why SSF
can be considered extremely appealing to the international tourism industry:

“People come to the beach for sun and sand, but they also come for seafood. You
know, if you live inland, unless it's a trout fish or farm fish, all that food's being
trucked in. But people come for fresh seafood. Cut down all the forests, and
people are going to the mountains to go walk in the forest. There's no more
forests. There's no more reason to go to the mountains, you know. People fish
all the fish out of the sea and there's no more reason to come to the ocean, maybe
sand and sun, but you're missing a big, big part of it, which is the food.”

Regarding the hospitality sector and SSF, the relationship can be seen from two different
perspectives: one could be identified as indirect, as artisanal fisheries can provide fresh and
typical seafood for the kitchen, and one that involves the sector more directly, related to the
possibility of doing pescatours. About the use of fresh seafood inside the hotel, many
considerations can be done while aspiring to a more sustainable use of these marine resources.
In particular, for what concern the size of the product:

“[...] the big conclusion from that [experience] was that we [were] serving plate
size huachinango, and I think it was 14 inches or 18 inches, basically like 30
centimetres: hasn't reached maturity yet. Just killing the babies, they don't have
an opportunity to reproduce. You're not going to have a sustainable fishery; they
are going to disappear. [...] I think we were trying to buy a local and I think the
first step there was educating our team to basically say “No more huachinango
less than the size”.
102
As highlighted in the interview, international resorts often relate to SSF from a power position,
being able to influence the demand of goods in an area. Because of this, the urge to educate the
kitchen team on sustainable seafood offers has two benefits: elevate the quality and value of
the food served in the hotel and can motivate SSF not to fish small sizes: as a general rule, if
the demand for a product decrease, the suppliers needs to adapt. Indeed, identifying the
difference between tourists’ wants and needs is extremely relevant:

“You know, sometimes you have to realise [...] the customer doesn't know what
they want, they'll just take what they've been told they want, and so they walk in
and they go - Oh, I heard plate-size huachinango are what I'm supposed to eat -
and the chef goes - No, actually not. I've got something better for you. They'll
go - Oh, I'll take that. OK. - but, you know, we're so afraid of our customers.”

A third benefit could be identified: tourists that could get educated through the culinary
experience, even without leaving the resort. On the other side, speaking of fishing tours, they
are identified as immersive experience in which the quantity or value of fish effectively
collected become less significant:

“So yeah, tourism comes in food consumption and then interacting with the
fishermen. [...] when people come back from that experience? What they talk
about is the people, how wonderful the experience was. Not just catching fish
but going down to get oysters, free diving with them if they can participate or,
you know, catching the fish, having these guys cut up the fish and serve it right
there. They talked about the marine life: a lot were there, whales breaching the
background, dolphins, and you know, turtles and all kinds of stuff and people
just love that. So, I think that's what's beautiful about the experience.”

When talking about the effective benefits for the fishing cooperatives, biggest value comes
from the possibility of being paid for the experience, and not for the amount of seafood
collected:

“ [...] from a tourism standpoint, the interesting thing you hear from, let's say, a
fishing guide, is the statement that fish is worth more to me in the water than it
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 is out of the water, because they take a fisherman out, a catch and release
fisherman, and that fish can be caught an infinite number of times, I mean,
theoretically. But if you pull that fish out of water, it can't be caught. The other
one is, you know. I think I'd love to see the economics of it, but [...] we charge
$300 USD. All right [...] I wonder how much those guys earn in a day if they're
just fishing. Because if they're fishing on their own and they pull, you know, 10
fish out of the water, you make $300 USD? I do not believe that they make
$300.00 off that. Well, we charge $300, you know we're taking our piece,
Johnny's taking his piece, by the time it gets to them. But let's say each one of
those guys makes 50 bucks, right? They make 50 bucks by taking 10 fish out of
the water, and if they go with us, they take one fish out of the water, maybe two.
That's all the guests really want. So maybe they take a fish out for themselves,
but you know, you get to continue to eat seafood. You get to continue to take
certain amount of fish out, but if they're doing it strictly for livelihood to survive,
because that's all they've done. How do you turn that? How do you do more of
that and keep it authentic? And help the entire fishing community while, well,
while working with them on reducing the amount of fish they're taking out and
creating no-take zones and protecting the fish and building.”

When talking about the future, it is interesting to analyse the different set of suggestions brought
up in this context. The most mentioned has been education around these themes, to all the
different parties involved:

“How to do environmental education in a positive way around them? How do

they know about the mangroves? How do they know about, you know, he
depletion of fish stocks by taking out, you know, plate size huachinango, how
do you bring that to their attention? And it's not just them, because they’ll just
say - Oh well. You know what? That's what the chefs want, that's what they're
paying for, right? - So, you know, you got to get them to a point where they're
like - Well, the chefs are going to ask for that, but eventually there's gonna be
none for the chefs.
So, they have to educate the chefs, or they've got to come back to the chef and
say - you know what people, want a plate sized fish, they don't necessarily want
huachinango, we can get them a blank meat as a plate size fish. So, I think there's
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 a certain amount of educating the consumer and the chefs and the waiters and all
that at the same time about this, and why it's important as well as the official that
you know, there is a whole supply chain to educate that. And the same thing with
Mangroves. You know, I think if you start in schools and you talk about the
mangroves early on with the kids and, you know, if you tie a movie like Finding
Nemo to the mangrove, like the kids are like - No, don't destroy the mangrove.
And they'll grow up that way, and you know a lot of our work is generational,
so, you know, I think it's important to work with the school level, at the fisheries
level, at the at the restaurant level, from an education standpoint [...]”

To reinforce these concepts, also the possibility of exchange of information with other fishers
from other localities that are already managing in doing so, could help the process:

“[...] having them meet with other fishermen who've done these things, so they
realise it can be done and hear directly from another fisherman on how that
directly resulted in increased fish stock. And here are the challenges from that.”

The implementation of no-take zone and enforcement was also suggested as effective:

“And then I think the second, the third level of that would be the enforcement
part is once they do create a no-take zone that is enforceable because if a big
******* trawler shows up and justice trawls away at their no-take zone.”

From another perspective, the possibility of adding value to the products of SSF through a label
was discussed:

“[...] the other thing that’s difficult in this business is it's not like that fish has a
label on it. Like you buy the coffee in the grocery store and it's non-GMO, you
know, Freetrade, B Corp, you know, all that stuff. But when you buy a fish, you
have no idea if it came in China or if it was, you know if it came from next door,
so you know, it would also be nice, I think, to develop a branding around that,
so that you know. You can have a sustainably caught by the cooperative of
Cayacal, or whatever their brand is. And have a label that people can put on a
menu, like a little sticker that they know that is a better fish to eat as a result.
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 That's under recommendations anyway [...] that's why, you know, if they're 2%
goes to the cooperative and the cooperative builds a label and the label has a QR
code and the QR code has a video and a website, that's not that hard. You know,
this is kind of things that you build that has multiple purposes. This has, you
know, this goes into educating the entire community. But you know, again I
don't want to be prescriptive, even though I am. That you know, these things can
be done. And it doesn't have to be MSC certified, lot of that, the other thing that
that does is pride in their own work.”

In the end, the potential support coming from private businesses, such as hotels and resort that
follows the concept of regenerative travel - as Playa Viva - has been analysed:

“The whole thing from regeneration [...] I think the example that resonated with
me was, you know, if you put an acupuncture needle in the right place, it will
release energy throughout the entire system. I think the idea is, you have to work
a bunch of different nodes within to figure out which one is going to release all
that energy. And so, you know, I don't think you can just say, oh, we're just going
to work on cohesion and that will solve all. You can't just say, oh, we're just
going to work on education and that's going to solve all the problems. I think
you work on all of them simultaneously, including, you know, having them go
to meetings with other fishermen. Because I think part of what creates inner
cohesion is meeting people from the outside. When you meet other fishermen
who are working on the same things and you understand, you know, that there
are other people are dealing with the same problems as you and how they were
dealing with those. Then it makes it easier to deal with them inside[...] All
families are alike in their unhappiness, you know. So, I think the idea that yes,
these are all issues that need to be solved, but you need to work on them all
simultaneously and move them all forward. And you know, some are going to
have bigger breaks and move forward, and some are going to be, you know,
harder and we're going to have to find other points of entry into them to
breakthrough, but you got to start somewhere. [...] If we can do this in Juluchuca,
and we can do it. We can do it anywhere.”

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4.2.4 Environmental NGO - Ballenas de Guerrero

This paragraph presents the position of an environmental NGO through Ballenas de Guerrero,
that “facilitates community-driven conservation in the fishing village of Barra de Potosí and
throughout the southwest Pacific State of Guerrero, Mexico, pioneering a new approach to
coastal protection that cultivates local leadership through citizen science, peer learning, and
community outreach” ([Link]). The organization has been active in the
past 10 years providing fishers the opportunity to get trained and certified to offer whale-
watching experiences. A great knowledge of the challenges faced by the sector has been gained
from the direct contact with local fishing communities and cooperatives, as discussed with the
founder and director, the biologist Katherina Audley:

“I would say the challenges are the conflicting powers and pressures coming
from different forces and a long history of violence and corruption and distrust
and fear between each other and in communities, and a sense of powerlessness,
because of violence and history of poverty, a mentality that is caused by lack of
opportunities and education and basic human safety, access to healthcare, and
education, and basic human needs. [...] I don't think it's fair to put one community
on top of another and assume that anything is the same. I know the situation is
different where you've been working than where I am. So, where we are we have
10 different coops fishing in the same lagoon, and that's too many coops to find
agreement and the coops are not all locally based and so they don't have a strong
sense of connection and commitment historically to the area. I think that that
might be the same in La Barrita, but I'm not sure that the community there is not
an ancient fishing community. [...] community of people that came because they
had not enough resources or not enough safety from their original place, and so
they tend to be second generation. Fishermen from families that left and so they
have a more extractive - Come take what you need and then go - rather than -
This is a place that we're a steward [...]”

Talking about fishing tourism, its sustainability and the difference between these types of tours
and pescatourism activities has been explored:

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 “I've always gone fishing with local people here. it's how I started coming here.
I used to go fishing with local people and I didn't really think of it as being as
ecotourism. Back then I was just - I'm a fisherman and I like to fish - and so I
came here and I asked a fisherman if I could go with them and started to go
fishing, and for me I've always been a fisherman that I fish to eat and so I don't
like to fish for big fish. And so, and I also I don't do catch-and-release really, I
catch a fish I'm going to eat and then I'm done. So, and if there's not enough fish
to catch, to have 100 to eat well and for it to be right then I don't fish so. I think
that the laws in Mexico say that you cannot actually sell dorado or pez vela or
anything in restaurants because they're supposed to be only used as a sport fish.
And that's just absolutely not how it happens here. The only fish that you can
always catch here is barillete, and you know it's not a very delicious fish, so I
don't fish anymore. So, I guess 20 years ago, 25 years ago, they used to, you
would see the just big garbage dumpsters full of pez vela that were 6/8 feet long.
They would bring them to see in Zihuatanejo and hang them and take the picture
and throw it in the dumpster, and people would just come in all day long. And
now there's very little compared to what it was like before. I've seen a huge
reduction in white meat fish that is edible as well and so.”

When talking about future possibilities, a strong focus has been directed towards the education
of the tourists, in order for them to be able to live the experience in the most respectful and
enjoyable way possible:

“Well, I think that there is a lot of work that can be done on the part of the hotel
that to educate the tourist. I know when I facilitate people going out with local
people into their kitchen, for example, or if to go on a whale watch boat or to go
on a kitchen, I make sure that the tourist knows how lucky they are to go inside
and see something real and that they are fortunate, that the guides are very, very
knowledgeable and dedicated to being experts in the well-being of animals when
they're out there on the ocean, and so the tourist goes out with a feeling of respect
and appreciation for the cook or for the fishermen or for the woman doing a tour.
And so, it helps to balance out the dynamic. And so then the fishermen, the cook,
the whale watching guide is less likely to get very close to the animal, or they
want a tip and they want the people to have a good experience and so if the
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 tourist asks - get closer, get closer, catch more, I want it, I want it, I want my
picture with the fish - then that's what's going to happen. And if the tourist does
not ask for that, then that's what's going to happen. So, I think building it from
both sides is something worth doing and most tourists do not come into it
educated, [...] I guess that's the benefit of the Playa Viva model.”

On the other side, a good way of working with the fishing cooperatives can be identified, in
order to support their development. Also in this case, education has been highlighted as one of
the best ways to benefit the whole community:

“I do think that empowering co-ops to charge standard prices, to not price drop,
to compete with each other, but for everybody to charge good money to get out
and to stay strong and unified and the prices it’s worth it, and educating tourists
about the most responsible and sustainable forms of fishing is a way to do it. I
think that just starting with children and like we have summer camps and nature
programs and week-long programs and daily programs and education programs
and we take women to see and kids to see, and so we have layers and layers and
layers of knowledge and identity that we've built here and, so people aren’t
eating turtle eggs anymore and are being more gentle on the environment
because the kids are bringing the knowledge and the women are supporting it.
And so, everybody's being rewarded in an identity form for doing the right thing
and then really setting up the kind of the fishermen or whoever. 'S the star. To
be a hero for being a conservation person, more than for being the guy that
catches the big fish, you know? But I think that, you know, fishing is pretty much
a thing, so it's tricky and, yeah, I think letting people be who they are is important
too, you know.”

Environmental knowledge has been stressed as an instrument to reach the overall broader
objective of sustainable development of the communities, in particular by fostering place
belonging:

“[...] so the opportunity is to cultivate a sense of stewardship by showing people

different ways that they can be in connection with each other as community
members and reminding people that they are the ecosystem and that we are all a
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 part of nature and nature is us. And when nature wins, everyone wins, and so,
building healthier community by assisting people so that all of their basic needs
are first met because you can’t make big decisions about anything until people's
basic safety needs are met, and then go from there and focusing on the women,
the children and the young men tends to be the approach that the community
says to take, and I have seen that to be true.”

4.2.5 Main observations

The interviews conducted with the four different stakeholders shape a more detailed
understanding of the complex SESF of the area. Every actor is a bearer of an instance of a
category, giving out their professional point of view on matters that concerns their sphere of
interest.

Analysing the history of the cooperatives on the coast, it is interesting to notice that is not usual
for fishers to develop a rooted relationship with the ecosystem they exploit regularly, and this
is particularly true if the fishing groups are composed of non-local people. These information
bring richness to the study because it highlights two concepts: a) the presence of LEK cannot
be given for granted in small coastal rural communities; and b) in reduced portions of coastline
that present similar natural features, the different socio-economical situations allows people to
shape very different realities. This observation reminds us of the effectiveness of integrating
the SESF analysis when focusing on SSF in coastal environments: “seemingly closely related
SESs can be in fact very different.” (Valdez-Rojas et al., 2022). Moreover, it may be interesting
to point out the different perception on the sizes of the organizations: the two cooperatives taken
into consideration in this study counted between 25 and 60 members are considered small-scale,
and from a point of view of decision-making it may be a good idea to unite, to get a better
representation and advocacy, as suggested by Prof. Rodriguez. From another perspective, it
seems common to find even smaller cooperatives in restricted areas, as it is the case of Barra
de Potosí, locality near-by the main study area, where it is said to be around 10 cooperatives:
numbers imbalances between number of members in a cooperative and quantity of cooperatives
present may be related to what has been also reported in the study conducted by García Lozano,
et al., in 2019: “[...] the Law of Cooperatives of 1992 decreased the minimum required number
of members in a cooperative to five, making possible the formation of smaller or family based
cooperatives. Discussions at the assemblies of CONMECOOP reflect these tensions. In the
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assemblies of 2017 and 2018, fishers expressed frustration over the proliferation of small
cooperatives, arguing they were not “real” cooperatives. These became debates over what
constitutes a real or pure cooperativist sector (sector social). Attending to these exchanges at
general assemblies offers a useful first step for understanding fishers’ perceptions of broader
policy changes.” (García Lozano, et al., 2019). To summarize, while it is relevant to ensure that
cooperatives unite in order to obtain a voice in decision-making processes and funds
allocations, it is important to not give for granted that cooperative is synonym of a cohesive
organization of people that truly share a vision and a common goal. This can bring to the
conclusion that SESF are a fundamental instrument for the comprehension of complex systems
such as rural coastal communities, and while the aspiration is to draw general conclusions, it
must be kept in mind that while presenting similar challenges and opportunities, every situation
is unique and one-size-fits-all approach could not be the most effective in the outlining of these
kinds of systems.

Talking about the present state of SSFs on the coastline, the level of understanding of the SSFs’
category of all interviewees showed their level of direct engagement with the fishing
cooperatives in their work. The stakeholders with more opportunities to develop a stronger
relationship with the individuals whose compose the different fishing cooperatives, even
outside the working environment, let us appreciate the fact that working on trust, respect and
transparency allowed them a smooth inclusion of touristic activities, while also giving the
possibility to fishers to feel more comfortable and empowered in sharing their knowledge with
tourists: this could play a crucial role in keeping the experience authentic. Referring to the
challenges faced by SSFs’ cooperatives, while we can assess that some are more common and
easier to identify than others, general problematics such as the lack of governmental
enforcement and subsidies, or the lack of cohesion inside the cooperatives, have been reported
by all the interviewees.

Regarding future perspectives, the main focus has been on opportunities and potentialities of
community-based tourism, not only because it represents the main effort of the four
stakeholders involved, but also because it has been identified as the best way of relating with
local communities, in the long-term process of empowering them to make good use of their
deep relationship with the territory. Everyone agrees on the role that education could play in
cultivating a sense of belonging in the individuals of the community, in particular to extend the
benefits of pescatourism to a bigger portion of the society, and not only to professionals directly
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involved in fishing activities. As highlighted by Prof. Rodriguez, bringing side benefits to the
whole community could also be a way of gaining better chances of governmental funding in
allocation processes.
The use of participatory management processes has been mostly highlighted by stakeholders
working in closer contact with fisheries cooperatives, as it could be an occasion of creating a
space of collaboration and cooperation, different from the monthly general assembly, for the
delineation of future objectives and goals, where the cohesion of the fishing cooperatives can
be cultivated and strengthened.

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Chapter 5. Conclusions

Numerous themes emerged during the analysis of the interviews in the previous chapter - the
most relevant have been summarized in the table TAB.2. Now that the SESF has been
delineated, we can now relate the main findings from the specific case study to a broader
general dimension, as this will be the focus of the next paragraph. A final section has been
reserved to provide the main limitations and a set of future recommendations for the case taken
into analysis, as this could constitute a base for the future development of the research and the
project.

Table 2: Main findings of the study.

Main findings Stakeholders Perspective

Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) Not common

Local limitations Not known

Women involvement Potential of involvement for the whole community

Historical records of SSF activities Not always present in small rural communities

Past abundance of resources /

Potential of involvement in touristic activities /

Main challenges Opportunities related

IUU Fishing Enforcement/Representation

Personas problematicas Building cohesion

Governmental subsidies Participatory management processes

Infrastructures Tourist potential of the area

Scarcity of marine resources Sense of belonging and stewardship

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5.1 Final Remarks

The definition of SSFs can be tough to determine, although from the information collected, we
can affirm that the realities analysed in the study can be considered part of this group. Even if
in recent years this sector gained visibility internationally speaking, mainly because up to date
it could represent one of the most sustainable ways of exploiting resources from the ocean, still
lots needs to be done to best represent the value of this activity apart from its economic one,
with the most difficult to represent being its significance at community level. Regarding the
sustainable exploitation of marine resources, we can consider the local set of restrictions
applied by the cooperatives as not merely economical, as it comes from a deep relationship
with the territory and an extensive understanding of the marine spaces exploited. Overall, it
can be considered a reflection of the LEK held by fishers: differently from industrial
commercial fishing, which is mainly focused on the quantity extracted, and exclusively
oriented at revenues, the objective here is to establish an efficient management of the resources
available, to be able to rely on them for an extended period. The relevance of LEK presence is
particularly interesting if we integrate the fact highlighted in the second-round of interviews:
it cannot be given for granted since many fishing communities on the coastline do not present
this peculiar type of knowledge.

Overall, a strong sense of abandonment from the government can be grasped, both in terms of
subsidies and funding for infrastructural development. SSFs lack adequate representation at
governmental decision-making level and require extensive support to continue its existence in
the upcoming years. An effort in these terms needs to be made, to prevent future generations
to step away from this kind of occupation in seek of a more stable economic situation. In the
short term, this support could be difficult to be provided by regulating authorities, which as of
today remain incapable to get a more holistic view, in particular regarding the importance of
SSFs at communitarian level. The lack of support has been justified not only by the reduced
possibilities of governmental institutions, but also by the lack of cohesion between members
of the same cooperatives. This challenge needs to be addressed because it may also favour the
rise of social challenges. The complex dynamics happening between the members stress the
fact, already highlighted in literature, that in community-based research it is fundamental to
not idealize the concepts of local community and cooperative in a broader sense, but to always
consider these levels of social organizations as groups of individuals with different
backgrounds, objectives, possibilities and visions whose come together mainly for economic
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benefits. Overall, the organization in cooperatives has been highlighted as a potentially positive
instrument for the fishing communities, while its effective efficacy could be improved.
Environmental education has been highlighted multiple times as possibly one of the most
effective actions to conduct.
Regarding governmental fundings, they may become fundamental in particular to tackle
environmental conditions such as Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) – marea rojas – always more
frequent in the area.

To answer the initial research question related to the potential of sustainable tourism - in
particular pescatourism - as a driver for the sustainable development of the local economy, a
valuable potential has been recognized in the area, and there is an overall positive will to
explore this possibility, as this could support the overall development of the territory and the
communities’ livelihood. The main challenges about this service being offered are related to
security concerns for tourists, due to existing infrastructures, and language barriers. The theme
of how to maintain authenticity emerged when discussing the long-term challenges that may
arise regarding pescatourism and in general community-based activities, as this has been
related to the very own nature of the experience. The presence of a local tourist operator, part
of the community where the tours are organized, may be fundamental to ensure activities that
respect the social dimension of locals, as concerns about the exploitation of the rural
community has been raised multiple times in the second round of interviews.

There is a large consensus on the benefits that cultivating environmental awareness could create
for the touristic potential of the coast. At the same time, important observations pointed out
how it could be beneficial in first place for the local communities, as the involvement of
children and women could help in the development of a sense of stewardship towards their
territory. This could also favour the reintegration of women inside the cooperatives,
considering also that this is a key theme highlighted in the SDG of the UN Agenda 2030 and
FAO Blue Transition: women involvement seems to have worsened in the area in the past
decades, in opposition to global trends. Extend the benefits of actions undertaken to the whole
community has been highlighted as beneficial also in the process of allocation of governmental
resources.

Regarding education efforts, the fact that educational opportunities should be provided not only
to fishers - and in general to locals - but also to tourists and hospitality workers, has been
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stressed numerous times during the second round of interviews conducted with stakeholders.
Information regarding community-based tourism and sustainable consumption of seafood
should be provided and spread, especially as this could help to establish a solid foundation for
the development of sustainable activities in the area.

5.2 Limitations of the study

Throughout the study, limitations have been highlighted in different sections. Here we sum
them up, also to better understand what the next level of inquiry could be, presented in
paragraph 5.4.
Speaking of methodologies, a qualitative modelling approach to SESF, based on LEK, has been
used in this occasion. Ethical issues must be taken into consideration, especially regarding the
positioning of the researcher in respect to an internalized bias of the category, regarding
nationality, gender, age and speaking skills. The researcher has been introduced to the
cooperatives in a formal and structured modality that may have influenced the initial perception
of the fishers. As already pointed out, academic research in these kinds of environments could
be erroneously associated by the interviewees to the presence of funding to be allocated. In this
way, people may not reflect on actual problems, but may only focus on reporting expensive
actions needed: a less formal introduction may have been beneficial to partially solve this
challenge.
Finally, interesting stimuli for the themes discussed has been identified outside the two SSFs
cooperatives analysed: it was not possible to pursue them, due to time constraints and lack of
funding.

5.3 Recommendations

We will now draw a baseline for future activities and projects that could be interesting to carry
out in these coastal fishing communities, to benefit their sustainable development in a
spontaneous way, given all the information collected during the study.
The most urgent and approachable theme is represented by social fragmentation challenges
arising from the feeling of abandonment. To support this, it may be beneficial to create
occasions of exchange, to build knowledge but most importantly to enhance the cohesion
between members of the same cooperative. This could be done through informal talks and
workshops, taking advantage of the monthly assembly as a moment to propose them. In
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particular, to address the sustainability of the activity for those fishers identified as challenging
for the community, it may be interesting to organize talks with a focus on the ecology and the
life cycle of the main species targeted in the area, their preferred size for what concerns the
extraction, focusing on the importance of these for the successful conservation of the resources
for the years to come.
As already highlighted, environmental awareness efforts may benefit communities on multiple
levels. For example, concerning the marine litter problem, it would be appropriate to organize
activities with the fishers and their families on marine litter, how it affects life in our oceans
and how to avoid it in our everyday life. This could be in the form of a beach clean-up, so that
participants could have the possibility to access first-hand the impact of littering, helping in
cataloguing waste, and understanding where they principally come from. This could also be
included in a bigger set of activities inside the already applied concept of regenerative
education: a visit to the turtle sanctuary, or to the mangrove forests may be very beneficial to
build a stronger relationship between the communities and the territory they live in, both from
an ecological and social point of view: as previously highlighted, often the feeling of belonging
to a place automatically develops a sense of stewardship towards it.
Likewise, infographics regarding bio-ecological features of the coast may be created and placed
in community spaces - such as the landing site in Puerto Xiaputica or the restaurants area in La
Barrita. Said infographics can be provided in both Spanish and English, with a double
objective: to awaken the curiosity and entice the locals to learn a useful language, but also to
be used to support a more sustainable way of relating with a territory for tourists, since these
areas are also frequented by these categories. The tables could also be used as support material
for pescatourism activities since these are the same locations where the tours start. Speaking of
pescatourism, there are many ways in which this kind of economic activity could be
implemented: first, sponsoring these kinds of activities inside the resorts, explaining and
guiding tourists during the choice of the activities to do. This could be linked to a wider
discourse on the sustainability of the seafood offered in the hotel, a theme that could definitely
be highlighted inside the hotel's spaces. Moreover, it might be interesting to explore the
possibility of fishers to be part of the wider network of Whales of Guerrero, which offers
training courses for the fishers in order to be able to offer whale-watching tours: right now, the
closest location where this service is available is in Barra de Potosì.
The main concerns about pescatours being offered are problems of security, due to existing
infrastructures and language barriers. These are thematic worth improving in the long-term, in
particular for what concerns the second: English classes could be provided for the fishers, and
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ideally also to their children, so that in a near-by future they could lead the whole tourists-
experiences on their own, being able to tell their story, without the necessity to rely on a
translator. This may provide a better livelihood from which people do not feel the need to
escape from, in order to pursue better economic possibilities.
Overall, to be able to fulfil this feeling of abandonment perceived by the communities: to give
a more positive perspectives on the future of the sector, it would be interesting to organize talks
about UN programs, such as the provisions directly talking about SSFs inside bigger
frameworks, such as the 2021-2030 United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable
Development, or the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, respectively supported
by the International Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC), the FAO and UNEP: a
vast number of resources can be found inside these networks, and ultimately a lot of support
could be provided relying on these programs.
Moreover, community-based ecosystem restoration efforts could lead to great benefits for the
territory, both for the communities that live in it and the overall biodiversity abundance: the
focus should be on restoring the mangrove forests developing close-by the numerous lagoon
systems, and the oyster seabeds in front of it. Speaking of mangrove restoration, it may be
interesting also to investigate the possibility of developing sustainable shrimp aquaculture
systems. Also, the possibility of artificial reefs could be explored, since they could benefit both
SSFs and tourism, improving the overall abundance of organisms in the water.
More in general, it would be beneficial to provide scientific support in the implementation and
construction of breakwaters or piers, as they could impact the dynamics of currents and the
delicate bio-ecological systems depending on them.
Given all the observation emerged from the analysis, we would like to conclude pointing out
that the area taken into analysis, with all the provisions presented in this paragraph, could
represent a very suitable ground for the establishment of a marine reserve, such as a Zona de
Refugio Pesquero (ZRP), mentioned in chapter 2. It would be the first ZRP developed in a low-
income Mexican state, and if efficiently managed it could set out an outstanding example on
how the private sector could collaborate with governmental agencies for the benefit of the
population.

118
5.4 Further analysis

In the future it may be interesting to extend the research also to the other fishing communities
present on the coast, in particular to better understand women involvement in SSFs and the
relevance of the fishing sector for the development of the broader rural region of Costa Grande.
It may be interesting to understand what dynamics are present in communities of fishers not
organized in cooperatives or not directly fishing into the ocean - as many locals focus their
fishing efforts inside the lagoons' system.
While for the aim of this research the method of inquiry served its purpose, to implement the
recommendations mentioned in the last paragraph, it may be relevant to include bio-ecological
analysis in future study designs, as it may help in building knowledge on the biodiversity of
the ecosystems of the area and overall fish stock status. This is particularly true if we want to
explore the possibility of establishing a ZRP.

119
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Appendix #1 Questionnaire

Guia Entrevista Cooperativas Pesqueras

En el resumen introductorio valdría la pena mencionar que hace Playa Viva en cuanto al apoyo
comunitario a lo largo de la cuenca y platicar de la importancia de la zona costera (mar y costa)
como parte del sistema

Fecha:
Nombre del pescador y puesto en la SCPP (si tiene):
Nombre de la cooperativa:
Ubicación de la cooperativa:

Preguntas:

1. ¿Cuántas embarcaciones tienen?

2. ¿Cuántos miembros forman parte de la cooperativa?

3. ¿Donde pescan - de donde hasta donde... ?

4. ¿Que pescan? (Principales especies en orden de importancia)

5. ¿Con que lo pescan?

6. ¿Cuántas personas van en embarcación a la jornada de pesca?

7. ¿Cuánto dura la jornada de pesca en horas?

8. ¿Más o menos qué tamaño tiene lo que sacan? ¿En qué temporadas?

9. ¿Cuando pescan - todo el año o ciertos meses solamente?

129
10. ¿Cómo comercializa su producto? ¿Quién lo compra? ¿A cuantos pesos? ¿A dónde se
va ese pescado? ¿A cuánto y cómo se vende en su destino final?

11. ¿Cuáles son los desafíos más grandes para la cooperativa? (Que te mencionen los tres
principales problemas). **** PRINCIPALES PROBLEMAS *****

12. ¿Cuales cosas van bien para la cooperativa?

13. Historia de la pesca? ¿Quien pescó antes? ¿Cuánto? ¿Cómo? ¿Cómo vivían? ¿Cómo
era el mar? ¿Hay la abundancia que quieres? Crees que tus chicos puedan vivir de la
pesca? Hay futuro?

14. Si logramos trabajar en la zona en el tema pesca, ¿cuál sería el primer problema a
resolver?

15. ¿Te gustaría colaborar con el sector del turismo? ¿En manera directa (tour de pesca con
los turistas) o indirecta (vender el pescado por el hotel)? ¿Por qué?

16. De ser así ¿Sería por implicaciònes económicas u otra razones?

17. ¿Què relación tienes con el manglar? ¿Piensas que el estado del manglar es importante
para tu actividad pesquera? Si hay ¿Què usos le dan o dieron?

18. ¿Han visto algun cambio (bueno o malo) en el funcionamiento, especies, abundancia
en los manglares, esteros y lagunas?

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Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the guidance of my supervisor Prof. Stefano
Malatesta, for the knowledge, patience and support always provided.
To David and Julia of Playa Viva, my co-supervisor Pablo of LegacyWorks, James, Martin and the
whole team composing ReSiMar I had the pleasure of exchanging time with, in particular Amanda
and Mariana, for giving me the unique opportunity of being part of this inspiring reality.
A todos los pescadores de las cooperativas de La Barrita y El Cayacal, y a todas sus familias, por
abrirme las puertas de sus mundos y hacerme sentir siempre como en familia. A Johnny, el Prof.
Eduardo, y Katherina, por apoyarme con su opinión profesional y más allá.

To the community - in the broader sense, not the one referred to in this whole work - that hosted me
with care, smiles, good music and food. I must mention my beloved ones: Ximena, Osmaira, Sabine,
Samantha, Nate, Rafael, and Gustavo, for the love, kindness, and constance they held me with, in the
process of writing this thesis. It would not have been possible without your laughters.
A todo el equipo de Playa Viva - Yara, Ceci, José Juan, Alfredo, Xavi, y mucho mas, y el equipo de
Permacultura - y toda la comunidad de Juluchuca, por siempre hacerme sentir como en familia. A
todos los chicos del campamento tortuguero Playa Icacos, Juan, Carlos, Tomas, Lupe, Eucebio, Cele,
y todos, por compartir conmigo el increible trabajo que es un campamento tortuguero y hacerme
descubrir este pequeño milagro que son las tortugas marinas, junto a innumerables amaneceres y
noches en la playa. A mi vida en México, porque rodeada de tanta belleza que la vida vibra, con
naturalidad. Esto, la luna y la bioluminescencia me sustentaron durante los tiempos mas complejos.

Alla fine, questo lavoro è solo il frutto di profonda curiosità ed interesse nel tentatare di comprendere
appieno la complessa relazione che lega uomo e natura: penso di averla provata ad indagare per tutta
la vita, e che questa tesi sia solo uno dei prodotti dei miei strambi tentativi di esplorazione. Ai miei
genitori Antonio e Amelia, per tante cose ma soprattutto per aver posato le fondamenta della mia
persona con cura ed amore. A tutta la mia famiglia, per avermi sempre stimolato, ispirato ed orientato
in questa strano percorso che è la vita: in particolare a mia zia Monica, le mie nonne, Angela e
Jolanda, e mio nonno Martino, esempi di vita e luminosi fari in ogni tempesta della mia vita. A mio
zio Giovanni e alle mie cugine Costanza e Camilla, per aver al contempo seminato in me e coltivato
insieme l’amore per il mare, che ci lega in maniera così indissolubile.

Agli Amici, estensione fondamentale del mio essere ed essenza di ogni mia giornata: a tutti i miei
compagni di università - tra cui Paola, Gabriella e Ludovico - ai compagni di studio della biblioteca e
del patio, e agli amici di una vita - tra cui Rachele, Maria, Federico, Gaia, Costanza, Simone, Andrea
e Pietro - per l’infinito supporto, amore e comprensione dimostrati in questi lunghi anni di studio ed
evoluzione. Per quanto porterò sempre con me tutti i bellissimi momenti condivisi insieme, sono
convinta che i capitoli più belli della nostra vita non siano ancora stati scritti, ed io non vedo l’ora di
continuare a scrivere insieme a Voi. Grazie.

Se sono quella che sono oggi, è merito di ogni singolo incontro fatto lungo la strada che mi ha portato
fin qui: innumerevoli persone, che anche senza saperlo, mi hanno mostrato una parte del loro cuore,
creando luoghi sicuri per l’incontro, il confronto e la condivisione. Non avrò mai modo di
menzionarvi tutte in questo poco spazio, ma spero che leggendo queste righe vi ritroviate.

Infine, a chi mi guarda dall’alto e guida ogni mio passo: finchè vivrò, vivrete per sempre anche voi;
poichè custodisco i vostri sorrisi ed il vostro entusiasmo per la vita nel profondo della mia anima.

Vostra, Maria Giovanna