Inland fisheries of the Mayan Zone in Quintana Roo, Mexico: Using a combined approach to fishery assessment for data-sparse fisheries

In Southern Mexico and Central America, inland fisheries form part of the livelihood portfolio of an as-yet unknown number of rural communities. This paper reports on the first comprehensive study of such fisheries located in common property lands (ejidos) of the Mayan Zone in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Given the “data-sparse” nature of these fisheries, with a lack of data available on their current status and on participation levels, a fishery assessment approach was used which included methods from both the natural and social sciences, with a focus on survey methods applied to fishery users, water, fish and creel surveys. Moreover, local knowledge of community residents complemented scientific knowledge in a substantial part of the research. The results, from 48 fishing sites (four with sub-saline waters, the remainder freshwater) indicated (1) a resource base of multi-specific nature with a total of 18 bony fish species in the study area, (2) artisanal (small-scale) fisheries, with very basic technology (notably hand-lines) utilized primarily through barefoot fishing along the shores, or with the aid of rafts and canoes, (3) seasonal fishing, primarily during the dry season (February to May), due to greater accessibility of the sites in those periods, but also related to the end of work on major local livelihoods, (4) both indigenous (Mayan) and non-indigenous fishers, of ages ranging from teenage to senior adults, for most of whom the major occupation was slash-and-burn agriculture, and (5) a mainly male-oriented fishery, but with some women involved in five out of nine ejidos studied. While the key motivation of fishers was subsistence, the study found, for the first time in this form of fishery, that recreation was also a significant goal of many participants. In terms of methodology, the study demonstrated the importance of cross-validating the accuracy of information from informants interviewed in the type of social surveys used here. This combined assessment approach proved effective in providing new information on these previously under-studied fisheries, and may be useful in similar data-sparse situations elsewhere.