Response indicators

Fisheries inspection in areas with presence of whales

As part of the efforts to protect and preserve the country’s marine fauna, inspection and surveillance actions aimed to enforce compliance with the fisheries’ environmental regulations are carried out. These activities aim to protect the economically important fish species but also other species, including marine mammals. Inspection and surveillance activities are carried out by Profepa and Community Surveillance Committees, and are critical for enforcing compliance with those regulations. The indicator Fisheries inspection activities in areas with presence of whales can serve to denote protection efforts carried out by both the government and society to protect cetacean species. Further information and details on this indicator can be found in the chapter on Fishery resources.

Dolphin bycatch by Mexico’s tuna fisheries

Before international efforts to protect dolphins began in the 1970s, tuna fishing caused high dolphin mortality throughout the world. In 1991, Mexico launched the National Program for Tuna Fisheries and Dolphin Protection (PNAAPD, for its acronym in Spanish); the program’s main objective was to make additional efforts to develop and consolidate Mexico’s tuna fishery, while minimizing its impacts on associated species. On the legislative front, the standard NOM-EM-002-PESC-1999 (DOF, 1999) was issued, which sets a "maximum incidental dolphin mortality" (LMD, for its acronym in Spanish) per ship, as the basic control mechanism. Dolphin mortality associated with tuna fishing, defined as Number of dolphins killed and mortality rate per fishing event is an indicator of the success of this program aimed at reducing the impact of fishing on some cetacean species that inhabit the country’s waters.

Federal marine protected areas encompassing the distribution ranges of gray and humpback whales and vaquita

The main purpose of protected natural areas is the protection of wildlife and natural resources of special importance, as well as of ecosystems representative of a region or country. The establishment of protected areas directly reflects the measures taken by governments to protect biodiversity and the environmental goods and services it provides (GESAMP, 1995, WWF 2000, WWF, 2008). The indicator Federal marine protected areas encompassing the distribution ranges of gray and humpback whales and vaquita denotes the country’s efforts to protect and preserve the local populations of three cetacean species. This indicator has often been used by international organizations (e. g., EU, 2007; ONU, 2007; OECD, 2008 and WB, 2009) and environmental ministries of many countries, including Mexico.