Conservation of vaquita marina in the Northern Gulf of California

Vaquita marina, a small species of porpoise endemic to the Northern Gulf of California in Mexico, is the world's most endangered cetacean species. With the purpose of preserving vaquita, the Mexican government launched PACE-Vaquita in 2008. This voluntary program offers an innovative schedule o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine policy 2012-05, Vol.36 (3), p.613-622
Main Authors: Avila-Forcada, Sara, Martínez-Cruz, Adán L., Muñoz-Piña, Carlos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Buyback program
Compensation
Conservation
Conservation of resources
Economics
Endangered species
Environmental policy
Environmental protection
Fisheries
Fishermen
Fishing
Fishing equipment
Fishing gear adoption
Gulf of California
Gulfs
Marinas
Marine
Marine resources
Maritime law
Mexico
Policies
Protected species
Public policy
Reduction
Vaquita marina
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Vaquita marina, a small species of porpoise endemic to the Northern Gulf of California in Mexico, is the world's most endangered cetacean species. With the purpose of preserving vaquita, the Mexican government launched PACE-Vaquita in 2008. This voluntary program offers an innovative schedule of compensations: as in a payment-for-conservation program, PACE-Vaquita compensates for temporary reductions in fishing effort; as in a program to accelerate technology adoption, PACE-Vaquita compensates for switching to vaquita-safe fishing methods; and as in a buyback program, PACE-Vaquita compensates fishermen for a permanent exit from fisheries. This paper seeks the factors explaining fishermen's participation in PACE-Vaquita during its first year of operation. Analysis is carried out through a multinomial logit specification on a data set collected one week after the enrollment deadline. This paper shows that fishermen with skills in alternative economic activities more likely quit fishing, and fishermen with relatively less productive vessels more likely switched to vaquita-safe fishing methods. Discussion of public policy implications is provided. ► Enrollment in PACE-Vaquita is modelled with a multinomial logit specification. ► Likelihood of buy-out increases with skills in non-fishing activities. ► Likelihood of switch-out decreases with profits. ► Under current rules, buy-out is not an option to prevent vaquita's extinction. ► Increase in compensation for buy-out may increase participation in buy-out.
ISSN:0308-597X
1872-9460
DOI:10.1016/j.marpol.2011.10.012