Marine resource dependence in rural coastal communities south of the Reef Corridor of the Southwest Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Abstract Coastal fishing communities rely on goods and services provided by marine ecosystems to satisfy their social and economic needs; however, continued exploitation of these ecosystems has degraded and threatened them making it imperative to implement conservation and management strategies. Management strategy impacts on local communities lifestyle is a function of dependence on the resource targeted by these strategies. The sustainable livelihoods approach can be used to measure resource dependence. Using this approach we designed an index to explore marine resource dependence of communities linked to the Los Tuxtlas reef system located in the south of the state of Veracruz. Thirty-eight surveys were applied across three communities. Our results suggest the communities we surveyed are moderately dependent on marine resources. Of the variables we measured, allotment ownership, subsidies, formal social capital, work independence, economic burden and fishing labor relevance contributed the most to marine resource dependence; while informal social capital helped reduce it. Understanding how resource dependence is formed in rural communities is fundamental to develop management and conservation strategies that achieve resource conservation goals and meet community needs.