Exclusión en el Golfo de México: una visión desde los pescadores sobre la industria petrolera en Tabasco

Rules were established in the shallower waters of Tabasco to prevent fishing close to oil platforms ships. The article analyzes the perception of exclusion on the part of fishermen with respect to the petrolization of their marine space. Three workshops were carried out in order to obtain the fishermen’s view; participatory mapping was employed to get an understanding of their fishing areas and of oil activities, as well as of the tensions between them and the “others”. Spatial injustice is evident in the active exclusion of fishermen from the space surrounding oil platforms, as well as in the passive exclusion due to contamination, insecurity, and even more, bleak perspectives for the future. The article shows that these exclusions began with an aceptable arrangement for the inclusion of fishermen, which, nevertheless, led to their exclusion in order to increase  extraction, given the exhaustion of Mexico’s public oil extraction system. Highlights: Research article on fishing exclusion in Mexico in order to favor oil platforms. Fishermen perceive: 1) active but not effective exclusion (legal and policing), and 2) passive exclusion (contamination, lack of security and fishing resources), which are evidence of spatial injustice. In order to amend this, it is necessary to reach acceptable inclusion arrangements, a solution that is expected of the new leftist administration.