PANGAS: An Interdisciplinary Ecosystem-Based Research Framework for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Northern Gulf of California

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Miguel Fernando Lavín (1951, a pioneer of the PANGAS initiative who dedicated his life to advance the field of oceanography in Mexico. He was a visionary who connected oceanographers, marine conservationists, and fisheries managers. IntroductIonSmall-scale fisheries contribute about half of global fish catches, or two-thirds when considering catches destined for direct human consumption (FAO 2014). Small-scale fisheries play an important role in food security and nutrition, poverty alleviation, equitable development, and sustainable use of natural resources, providing nutritious food for local, national, and international markets. More than 90% of the world's fishers and fish workers (those who work in pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest activities, including trade) are employed by small-scale endeavors that underpin local economies in coastal, lakeshore, and riparian ecosystems. This, in turn, generates multiplier economic effects in other sectors (FAO 2014). These activities may be a recurrent sideline undertaking or become especially important in times of financial difficulty. Small-scale fisheries represent a diverse and dynamic sector, often

Designing connected marine reserves in the face of global warming

“…Ongoing efforts in the region, including those of organizations contributing to this study (e.g., Comunidad y Biodiversidad: cobi.org.mx), consider the participatory design and implementation of marine reserves as a key component of EBM in the RGI (Munguía-Vega et al, 2015, Turk-Boyer et al, 2014. Ongoing management strategies include programs to reduce bycatch of threatened species (e.g.…”

“…The area is characterized by a seasonally cyclonic (counter-clockwise) gyre during spring-summer causing a strong northward current along the eastern coast that reverses its direction to an anti-cyclonic (clockwise) gyre during fall-winter when a predominantly southward current is present in the eastern coast (Lavín & Marinone, 2003, Marinone, 2012. Consequently, larval dispersal is asymmetric and, depending on the phase of the gyre, areas located upstream relative to the predominant flow can act as 'sources' (i.e., sites supplying a large proportion of larvae and contributing significantly to recruitment), while sites located downstream act like 'sinks' (i.e., sites predominantly receiving larvae from multiple sources) and intermediate sites serve as 'stepping stones' (i.e., sites connecting areas otherwise disconnected) , Munguía-Vega et al, 2015, Turk-Boyer et al, 2014. Our study region is ideal to explore changes in connectivity due to ocean warming because the strong asymmetric current system means that changes in PLD will likely have stronger effects on larval connectivity than in more open ocean and symmetrical current systems (Selkoe et al, 2016).…”

“…These are species of high conservation and commercial value in the region, and are well studied, including their patterns of larval connectivity ; spatially-explicit information on their larval dispersal patterns is derived from coupled biological-oceanographic models that reliably predict genetic diversity and structure within these species in the northern Gulf of California (Lodeiros et al, 2016, Munguía-Vega et al, 2015, Turk-Boyer et al, 2014. These three species spawn during spring-summer (cyclonic phase of the gyre), but have different larval dispersal patterns, i.e.…”

“…Given the lack of reliable downscaled projections of physical variables that force the model, our dispersal model did not explicitly include potential changes in currents due to ocean warming (e.g., Andrello et al, 2015), which is an area of active research. Further details of the oceanographic modeling can be found in previous studies , Munguía-Vega et al, 2015, Soria et al, 2012 and are summarized in the Supplementary Material.…”

“…S4), which is in part mediated by human settlements (i.e., more fishers nearby). The downstream position of the eastern section of the RGI in the summer-fall phase of the gyre could translate to more prosperous fishing activities because of a regionally increased availability of many commercial species that are summer spawners , Munguía-Vega et al, 2015. By including connectivity in our prioritization analyses, we were able to prioritize upstream sources on the western and southern sections of the RGI (Fig.…”