The main key drivers of vulnerability for marine species are anthropogenic stressors, ranging from pollution and fishing to climate change. The widely documented impacts of fishing activities on marine species, the growing concern about the population status of many marine species, and the increase in per capita consumption of marine products worldwide have led to the development of environmentally responsible fishing standards and initiatives to inform consumers about the health status of the species. In Mexico, fishing is a vital source of jobs and food security for many coastal communities, but the population status of many species of commercial importance has not been evaluated. Management efforts and fisheries certification procedures and standards to achieve the sustainability of many Mexican fisheries are hindered by a lack of biological and fishery data for many species. In this study, a risk assessment methodology for data-limited fisheries, a Productivity, and Susceptibility Analysis was used to estimate the relative vulnerability of marine invertebrates and fishes commercially important in Mexico to fishing. Ninety-eight invertebrates, 66 elasmobranchs, and 367 bony fish were analyzed. The vulnerability among the 531 evaluated species is high for 115 (22%), moderate for 113 (21%), and low for 303 (57%). The most vulnerable species are the Mexican geoduck (Panopea globosa) and the Black Sea Cucumber (Holothuria atra) for invertebrates, the Spiny butterfly ray (Gymnura altavela) among elasmobranches, and the Black-and-yellow rockfish (Sebastes chrysomelas) for bony fishes. This study provides a first screening of the many species potentially affected by fisheries, prioritizes marine species for future research and management efforts, identifies the main data gaps, and sets the baseline for future research efforts and management. Furthermore, the results could improve market-based approaches like eco-labeling initiatives and the Responsible Seafood Consumption Guide, developed by Mexican authorities in collaboration with Comunidad and Biodiversidad (COBI, a civil society organization), to inform consumers about the origin and sustainability of fishery products.

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The constant demand for seafood products and the undeniable effects of fishing on marine ecosystems make it urgent to implement an ecosystem approach, even in data-poor scenarios such as small-scale fisheries. Understanding the impacts of fishing is essential for promoting management strategies that prevent irreversible damage to marine ecosystems. Thus, ecosystem quantitative science-based models have been frequently used to evaluate the effects of fishing, although fishers’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) can aid the implementation of qualitative models, particularly in data-poor conditions. Here, we present a framework for simulating and assessing the effects of fishing following two strategies: (1) for both types of models, we simulated species removal scenarios, and (2) for quantitative science-based models, we fitted time series to dynamically assessed impacts. The impacts were analyzed through ecological indicators commonly used for quantitative models, and because these indicators cannot be easily estimated for qualitative models, we propose the use of topological indicators in both types of models. The approach was applied to three case studies of small-scale finfish fisheries in northwestern Mexico. We found that the ecosystem response to species removal was different in each case study and that the target species can play an important role in ecosystems, but their removal does not generate abrupt changes in the ecosystem structure. The quantitative science-based models were able to reproduce the historical catch trends, which allowed us to reveal that changes in ecosystems are indeed influenced by fishing effort but also by underlying primary productivity. Furthermore, topological and ecological indicators showed similar trends in the quantitative models, which suggests that the former could be useful when data-poor conditions allow only qualitative models. This result confirms the relevance of the participation of fishers in generating qualitative models and their decisive role in the discussion of co-management strategies and risk scenarios in a better-informed manner.