In 2002, fishermen in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, decided to create a network of marine reserves to help recover and enhance their scallop and black murex snail fisheries in surrounding waters. Science played a role in choosing sites for protection based on local knowledge of currents, biological survey data, and information about reproduction of scallops and snails. The reserve network included an offshore area near an island where these species were abundant, another area with moderate abundance, and one area near the port that once had high abundance but recently had been heavily fished.
In just 2 years, abundance of young scallops inside the reserves increased more than 40%. Outside the reserves, abundance of young scallops increased by 20% and young snails increased by 200%. The biggest changes outside of the reserves occurred “downstream,” suggesting that young drifted from the reserves and seeded these fished areas. Eighty percent of fishermen also reported seeing more scallops in areas that had previously been depleted.
Local people patrolled the reserves for a short time, but there was no legal basis for enforcement. Within a few years, fishermen from elsewhere began poaching. As a result, the community collectively decided to re-open the reserves to fishing.
In 2007, the Mexican government granted the local fishing cooperative exclusive access to their fishing grounds. The community then began the process of re-establishing the network of marine reserves. This case illustrates the importance of support from local communities and the government as well as the incorporation of fishermen's knowledge and scientific information for successful implementation of marine reserves.
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