Managing Artisanal Fisheries In Estuarine Systems Through Fishing Zoning In The Southeastern Gulf Of California

Artisanal fisheries in the estuarine systems of Mexico are poorly regulated because the complexity of this activity and the lack of information on the biology of the exploited species, their habitat and the fishing methods. Looking for alternative ways of developing a fisheries management plan with the available information (i.e. landing date, catch and landing site, catch per species, and price), this chapter proposes the use of zones as management units, in order to understand fishing processes by region, and identify possible changes of the marine communities in time and space along the coast of Sinaloa (SE Gulf of California). A total of 97 species compose the artisanal catch in the 6 defined zones, being the teleost fish the group that contributes with most species (80), but the shrimp fishery is important in all the zones. Following the shrimp, the other important fisheries change according to the zone, but in general the swimming crabs are most important in the North, and the demersal fish in the south. Three categories of target species were identified: high price and high abundance seasonal species; low abundance- high price - resident species; high abundance-low price resident species. Zonation allows identifying catch trends, which can be used for management, but still some essential information is needed for a better management.