2015 Conference

Poster Presentation

The cultural landscapes created by fisher communities along the northern Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur (BCS) are the result of years of interactions between this biologically unique and rich physical environment and the activities of the cultural groups that have inhabited the region. BCS has long attracted research interest in terrestrial and marine ecology because of its extraordinary biological diversity. Less attention has been given to the cultural geography of the region, a crucial component in the management of natural resources. Our research analyzed the evolution of this cultural landscape to comprehend how the interplay between the physical and human environment has resulted in the continued sustainability of its natural resource base.
The coastal communities that exist in BCS today were first settled as fishing camps in the early 20^th century and have a long history of communal management of resources. However, in recent years these arrangements have been challenged by local, regional, national, and international forces. Fisher cooperatives have been operating since the 1940s, and more recently fisher co-management of abalone and lobster stocks (to which these coastal communities have exclusive access) between the government and communities have been instituted. Socioeconomic changes have been accompanied by environmental threats such as groundwater depletion and potential marine intrusion which impact the attractiveness and sustainability of coastal communities. Despite these changes and related challenges, cooperatives have prevailed as enterprises because of their strong social organization, although it has left fisher communities more vulnerable to change.