Akumal No Fishing Zone: current status 5 years after its decree.

The Akumal No Fishing Zone (ZRPA by Spanish acronyms), has generated mixed results. It has not been fully adopted by the local community, thus, during this period, the decrease in overfishing has been negligible, as one of the most significant precursors of reef degradation in Akumal.

Por Iván Penié.

Map of the ZRPA with the highest number of illegal fishing - "A": spear fishing and "C": fishing with lines or rods.

Since its decree, the ZRPA, the first fishing refuge decreed outside an ANP in Mexico, has had little surveillance by SADER (formerly SAGARPA, Mexican agrarian and fishing ministry), in addition to the fact that it does not have a Fisheries Management Plan that establishes the most specific guidelines in fisheries matters, makes it even more difficult to comply with the regulatory framework already established, beside the ZRPA self-guidelines, which on April 13 will be five years old created.

Since the management and promotion process of the ZRPA during 2013-2014, the disinterest of the local community in the establishment of instruments for the conservation and protection of the marine-coastal ecosystems of Akumal was notable. In Akumal, sport fishing has historically prevailed, as well as “self-consumption” or irregular fishing, over formal commercial fishing; however, with the bloom of snorkeling activity, the increase in tourism and especially in the construction sector in Akumal, a significant number of people came to the area from other regions of Quintana Roo or other states, who did not even had participated in the promotion process, design and socialization of the ZRPA, carried out by its promoters, the Tulum Fishing Cooperative (SCPPPT by Spanish acronym) and CEA.

In 2017, many people who work or live in the Akumal coastal zone, although they regularly consumed fish, did not know where they came from; Additionally, most survey respondents were not even aware of the existence of the ZRPA, much less about its operation, all of which frames a fertile scenario for a growing local black market, based on illegal fishing activity.

In fact, since the ZRPA was decreed in 2015, reports of illegal and poaching in Akumal have exponentially increased, as it is known that it has multiple accesses to the marine area along the Akumal coast, which, before the absence of authorities, certainly facilitates the commission of illegal fisheries, using among other gear pneumatic harpoons, mechanical harpoons, longlines, boat hooks, gillnets, lines, reeds and even chlorine poisoning, almost all with serious environmental dangers.

Regardless of the fact that the ZRPA established all types of extractive fisheries are prohibited, with the exception of the Lionfish fishery and that it is also prohibited by the Protection Program of the Refuge Area for the Protection of Aquatic Species (ARPEA by Spanish acronym), in the Akumal bays there have been registered among other illegal acts:

-Self-consumption" fishing, using fishing gear not allowed and subsequent irregularly sale of the catch.

-Catch / Release” fishing from land, very close to beaches frequented by tourists or reef areas.

-Anchorage of boats in reef areas and abandonment of remains of fishing gear in reef or tourist areas.

-Poaching sport fishing, without respecting the daily catches limits and sizes, as well as, without authorization from the corresponding authority (SADER).

-Impact of protected natural species such as corals and the ecosystem in general by leaning and gutting the catch on board vessels.

-Sport fishing for concessioned and / or closed species such as lobster, octopus, snail or grouper.

Transgressors generally enter to the sea through public accesses or by coastal properties, being more common in northern Akumal. The illegal sport fisheries are also carried out by local boats, in addition to others from Tulum or Puerto Aventuras. It has been found that these activities have varied hours, ranging from 06-08 hours or 16-18 hours for sport fishing, from 07-15 hours for poaching activities and illegal fishing in the form of snorkeling is mostly carried out at night, between 18-22 hours.

In Akumal, a Participatory Surveillance Committee has been operating for the last 3 years, promoted by CONANP and made up of SCPPPT fishermen and CEA collaborators. Most of the complaints of the aforementioned illegal activity have been made to the police and the local authority of Akumal, as well as to the CONANP rangers stationed in Akumal Bay, who have sporadically responded to the notices of illegal activity; resulting at least in temporary arrests of illegal fishermen and seized of their catch and fishing gear.

Coral reefs in Akumal have been suffering in recent years an accelerated deterioration, due to general marine pollution, the effects of global warming, the impact of massive sargassum overburden and its inadequate management. According to Baruch Figueroa, CEA researcher, these causes, combined with overfishing, could be the precursors of the expansion of the “white syndrome”, which during the last year has put the reef community of Akumal in check, with around 60% mortality of hard corals in about 6 months.

However, not everything is catastrophic around the ZRPA and fisheries resources in general. Firstly, the ZRPA served as an important precursor to ARPEA, which contains a broader scope for the conservation of Akumal's marine-coastal ecosystems.

On the other hand, the results of the monitoring carried out by the CEA on the density and biomass of fish in Akumal, reveal an “encouraging” rise between commercial fish and herbivorous fish, the latter, with an important ecological role for the reef ecosystem.

To the notable decrease last year 2019 in the reports on illegal fishing, it should be added that one of the main impacts of the Participatory Surveillance Committees lies in the socialization of the guidelines of the ZRPA. Increasingly, the inhabitants of the local community are better informed and even, there is a greater willingness of the delegation authorities to cooperate in surveillance.

Finally, and although it has been difficult to count, Ramiro Pech, President of the SCPPPT, believes that there is a slight increase in the sizes of commercial scale species in the vicinity of the ZRPA; as well as some fishermen have reported the sporadic presence of the lobster and the snail, species that were practically "disappeared" from this area in the last years.

Although it is not enough, since there is still a lot to evaluate and improve, after 5 years of the ZRPA, the results are mixed. Vulnerable points and even ways to resolve them have been identified, provided that the will and collaboration prevail above all at the local level.