Punta Allen to Receive Marine Stewardship Council Certification

Punta Allen is one of the case studies that I am using in my thesis. It is considered by the IUCN to be the most successful lobster fishery in Latin America and is located within the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. Fishers use lobster houses as its sole fishing method and each fisher is in charge of his own "campo,"or territory where he maintains and fishes his own lobster houses. Some of the reasons why this fishery has been so successful is because it is highly productive, its co-management system facilitates enforcement, and it is isolated. I was excited to learn recently that is one of six Panulirus argus fishing cooperatives that is set to receive Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification as part of the Regional Federation of Fishing Cooperatives in Quintana Roo. You can track the fishery or any other fishery certified or undergoing assessement by the MSC at this website.

The area undergoing certification extends from Tulum to the Mexico-Belize border. Scientists determined that this enormous area was necessary to sustain the lobster resource because it was considered a "bank," which is an area where recruited lobsters do not substantially mix with recruited populations. In order to receive certification, the fisheries will have to maintain a spawning abundance of adults above a precautionary limit in which the recruited lobster population is not impaired due to dispersal to other areas. This management strategy makes sense because the larval stage of spiny lobsters can last for almost a year, carrying the larvae great distances.

I contacted those in charge of the project and they informed me that the full assessment of the fishery has been completed and if everything goes smoothly, the fishery will be certified by the middle of this year and you will be able to buy spiny lobster from Punta Allen with this snazy logo!

Punta Allen isn't the first spiny lobster fishery that the MSC has certified. The MSC's first certification was issued to a Western Spiny Lobster (Panulirus cygnus) Fishery in Western Australia. The lobsters are harvested using baited pots. This fishery is the most valuable single-species fishery in Australia and generates US$300-400 million annually, exporting to markets such as Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and the USA. Markets have also opened up locally due to rising demand for local, sustainably-sourced seafood. Another lobster fishery that is undergoing recertification is the Red Rock Lobster (Panulirus interruptus) Fishery of Baja California. 

I also had no idea how successful MSC has been. Approximately 6% of the world's total edible wild capture fisheries are now engaged in the program. Wal-Mart announced in 2006 that it would buy all of its wild-caught fresh and frozen fish for the US from fisheries certified by the MSC by 2011.

Becoming certified by the MSC allows fisheries to access higher-priced markets and may increase their income but also require compliance with certain terms of certification, which may require management changes that are difficult for fisheries to accept. The basic requirements for certification include:

(1) that the fishing activity must be at a sustainable level

(2) that fishing operations should be managed to maintain the structure, productivity, function, and                       diversity of the ecosystem on which the fishery depends

(3) that the fishery must meet all the local, national, and international laws and must have a management system that responds to the changing circumstances and maintains sustainability


Sadly the Miches fishery does not meet any of these criteria because the catch is decreasing, the fishing methods used are destructive to the environment, and none of the national laws are obeyed.