Fieldwork visit Mexico, September 2024

In September 2024, PCC postdoctoral researcher Mandy Geise traveled to Baja California Sur, Mexico, to conduct fieldwork on the use and application of technologies by fishing cooperatives, NGOs and scientists in an initiative to monitor water quality on the Pacific coast of Baja California.

An association of fishing cooperatives in this region, FEDECOOP, together with NGO Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI) and a scientific consortium including researchers from Stanford University have used sensors to measure water temperature and oxygen levels in the areas where they fish. The initiative aims to monitor oceanographic conditions and identify phenomena that affect the socioeconomic interests of the fishing communities, as well as the functioning of the ecosystems. It is meant to provide more tools and insights to the cooperatives’ members and help in understanding the occurrence and possible connections of phenomena such as algae blooms, massive fish die off, reproductive fluctuation and water temperature and oxygen levels.

Each cooperative has two sensors in different areas of their fishing zones, at 14 meters below the water surface. A technical expert at the cooperative is in charge of the sensors and the data they register. To be able to get and use the registered data, the sensors need to be connected to a computer, which means they need to be retrieved from their underwater location, cleaned, supplied with a new battery and placed back in their original position. Together with getting to the location this can be a time-consuming undertaking. The retrieval typically happens every six months.

Together with a team of marine biologists and divers from COBI, Mandy visited the cooperatives just as the initiative’s pilot phase was ending and the roles were changing. COBI and the scientific team would continue to provide support, but the cooperatives would now leading the retrieval of sensors and data, re-installment and maintenance of the sensors. While there, for one last time the team from COBI, together with technical experts from the cooperatives, retrieved the sensors that are planted in the fishing zones to upload their recordings onto computers.

During the visit Mandy observed the processes of the retrieval, maintenance, placement and the use of the sensors, as well as other forms of monitoring and observing oceanographic conditions and marine life. In interviews she reflected with cooperative members, marine biologists and divers on the use of the sensors and their data. They also discussed possibilities for adapting their fishing practices informed by sensor data, for example by protecting certain areas through (temporary) fishing restrictions.

Mandy also gave a lecture at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur in La Paz, on the contributions of anthropological methods and findings in the management and design of sustainable fishing practices.

More information on the sensor initiative in this article by COBI (in Spanish): https://cobi.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=6f837e0ef0c84d21a4ab87126dbdaebb