Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning in the Northern Gulf of California, Mexico: Consolidating stewardship, property rights, and enforcement for ecosystem-based fisheries management

Abstract Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) serves as a tool for ecosystem-based management, where human activities are allocated in space and time to meet ecological, economic and social objectives. In this study, we describe the implementation of a CMSP process in Sonora, Mexico, where a multi-tiered governance structure was built with transparent and inclusive stakeholder engagement in decision making processes to address growing conflicts and management problems. In its first phase, the process focused on artisanal fishing activities, the main economic driver in the region. The planning process was driven by CEDO Intercultural, a non-profit focused on environmental conservation and fisheries management. The governance structure included an Intercommunity Fisher Group (IFG), a base technical team, a technical advisory committee and a core group of government authorities relevant to fisheries management. Together, these actors developed different fisheries management tools to organize the spatial use of eleven species exploited by artisanal fisheries. Fishers were elected to represent their communities in the IFG and engaged through workshops to analyze information. Capacity building activities and extensive communication helped ensure broad coverage and understanding of the goals of the coastal corridor and the proposed management tools. These management tools included a network of fisheries refuges, areas for local management, catch quotas, and proposals for regulating fishing effort. They were designed using a variety of modeling approaches that combined the best available science with Local Ecological Knowledge. Management tools were modified based on feedback from the different actors; the final integrated management plan was assessed for impacts on fisheries and ecosystem services and function and a formal proposal was submitted to government agencies. In addition to meeting minutes demonstrating agreement with proposals, local actors wrote letters in support of the Integrated Plan and the Proposal for Fisheries Refuges. We are now defining indicators to measure management effectiveness. If this proposal is legally implemented, it will engage stakeholders in decision making and the spatial planning for the Coastal Corridor while enhancing fishers livelihoods and preserving ecosystem services.