In the case of Oaxaca, he explained that the organization’s work with cooperatives in Puerto Escondido allowed the organization to identify historically invisible problems, such as illegal fishing and the lack of management plans for key species such as red snapper and rock oyster.
He highlighted that, in an unprecedented way, it has been the fishermen themselves who request to move towards fisheries management plans, even though this implies self-regulation and, in some periods, stopping fishing to allow the recovery of the species.
“That communities ask for management plans is historic,” said Terrazas, pointing out that these processes are being built hand in hand with the fishing sector, local organizations and authorities such as the Mexican Institute for Research in Fisheries and Aquaculture (IMIPAS).
During her intervention, the director of Oceana insisted that there is a structural lag in the fishing sector in Mexico, which faces a lack of updated data, a limited budget, illegal fishing and “institutional forgetfulness.”
Terrazas linked this situation with the defense of the Gulf of Mexico, as he warned that the expansion of oil exploitation represents a direct threat to marine biodiversity and coastal communities, which is why he insisted that the Gulf of Mexico requires a new development model that prioritizes marine life and coastal communities over oil expansion.
“The Gulf is not just oil. It has more than 15,000 registered species and a cultural and environmental wealth that can sustain food security and local development. Betting on sustainable fishing is betting on the people and the future,” he said.
He rejected the idea that the Gulf is a degraded ecosystem with no possibility of recovery and highlighted that it is home to thousands of species, many of them endemic, and, he said, it has profound cultural and economic relevance.
In this context, the director of the organization pointed out that Oceana promotes an alternative development proposal for the Gulf of Mexico, focused on sustainable fishing, conservation and food security, instead of deep water exploration.
As part of this strategy, the organization works with more than 40 groups of fishermen, women and youth in states such as Veracruz, Campeche and Yucatán, who directly face the impacts of oil spills and climate change.
Finally, Terrazas emphasized that fishing communities are not only adapting to these changes, but are also leading mitigation actions, mangrove restoration, species monitoring and defense of the territory.
“They are stories of organization, resistance and concrete proposals to protect the oceans,” he concluded.
