The Future of Fishing and Aquaculture in Mexico Is Sustainable

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Víctor Villalobos, highlighted the fundamental role of sustainable fishing and aquaculture.

Many of Mexico’s coastline communities depend on fishing and aquaculture as their primary sources of economic income. In fact, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), these activities annually employ approximately 213,246 people directly in the productive sector and over 1,997,750 in activities related to food preparation all over the country. In this context, the government and the Ministry of Fishing and Aquaculture (INAPESCA) are prepared to take measures to boost these activities and make them sustainable enough to keep providing jobs as well as healthy food to the Mexican population toward the future.

On Aug. 29, 2022, on the 60th anniversary of the National Fisheries Institute (INAPESCA), Pablo Arenas Fuentes, Head, INAPESCA, highlighted the importance of sustainable aquaculture production, as well as that of mariculture given the scarcity of fresh water and due to the overexploitation of marine resources.

Oceana estimated that 50 percent of the total fishery output in Mexico is caught illegally, putting the natural balance of marine ecosystems at risk and generating economic repercussions. For example, because Mexico failed to accomplish the environmental obligations in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico lost its certification to export shrimp to the US, which led to economic losses and impacted families that depend on this business.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, acknowledged the work done by INAPESCA’s investigators and the organization’s contribution as a "technical and scientific arm" supporting the conservation of the country’s fisheries and aquaculture. He also said that to maintain long-term sustainable production, more research is required. “We need research that provides data on where and how many sea resources there are. If the available resources are unknown, they cannot be managed, because what is not known is lost, diluted and wasted,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Mexico’s Ambassador to Chile, claimed that translating the Sowing Life scheme to aquaculture, small-scale and artisanal fishing units would directly benefit communities engaged in this activity. Therefore, they would also contribute to the reconstruction of the social fabric, transfer of knowledge, recovery of ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs and enhancement of productivity.

Bárcena also assured that at a global level, the international community has concluded that the solution to climate change lies in the oceans. Therefore, everyone should be called upon to end overfishing and implement more sustainable management practices.

Oceans provide the main source of protein for more than a third of the world’s population. What is more, the livelihood of around 3 million people depends on marine biodiversity, and along with forests, these ecosystems work as gigantic carbon sinks that capture about a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activities. They furthermore absorb 90 percent of the excess heat generated by climate change. This is why the essential role of oceans is recognized as part of the UN 2030 agenda, stated as the fourteenth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Life below water.

Miguel Ángel Cisneros, Researcher, INAPESCA explained the relevance of developing public policies designed to strengthen the resilience of the national fishery and prioritize that workers can access health and education services to improve their well-being and productive capacity.

Moreover, on an international scale, 2022 was proclaimed the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (AIPAA) by the UN. To commemorate this, the Mesoamerican Committee, made up of representatives of fisheries and aquaculture organizations from ten South American countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela, gathered to discuss the challenges that artisanal fisheries and aquaculture value chains face in Latin America. The committee also provided recommendations to support inclusive organizational and partnership processes, ensuring the contribution of artisanal fisheries and aquaculture to food security in the region.