Transforming fishing practices and policies in Mexico

Mexico is one of largest seafood producers worldwide. The country has an annual production of over 1,750,000 MT of fish, which makes it the 17th largest global producer. In Mexico, more than 350,000 people depend directly on fishing for a living, and millions of Mexicans rely on fish to acquire high quality protein. Mexico has great potential to become a leading example of sustainable fishing for other countries.

According to our report Fishing and the Ocean Economy, reforming the fishing sector in Mexico could generate more than $211 billion USD in profits every year, and increase the amount of fish in the water by more than 70% in the next 20 years, compared to doing nothing.

That is the reason why Mexico is among the 12 government units where EDF is working, so we can have more fish in the water, more food on the plate and more prosperous communities, both for Mexico and the world.

Our work in Mexico
Our vision is to make Mexico a leading country in sustainable fishing.

Since 2009, we have been working –along with governmental agencies, fishermen, buyers, scientists and other non-profit organizations– to transform fishing policies and practices toward more sustainable fishing.

Our vision is to help Mexico become a global leader in sustainable fishing, by working on:

-Fishing rights: Promoting changes to the legal framework that will encourage sustainable fisheries management plans through the promotion of long-term permits (fishing permits and concessions).
-Finding market solutions: Using market incentives to increase the value of fisheries, instead of taking a higher volume of fish out of the ocean.
-Supporting science: Funding scientific research for each region to get more and better information about fisheries in Mexico.
-Knowledge transfer and exchange: Exchanging knowledge, experiences, and ideas with our partner organizations, so we can design, implement and evaluate catch shares programs that suit the needs of all stakeholders.