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Fisheries in the news: how the media sets the agenda for seafood sustainability in the United States
have become a popular tool to promote sustainable fisheries management and protect marine biodiversity. However, the governance structures that determine marine reserve success are not well understood. The response of resource users to reserve establishment, as well as the socioeconomic, institutional, and political contexts in which they occur, are rarely considered during reserve implementation. I use the Coupled Infrastructure Systems (CIS) framework to better understand the interdependencies between social, economic, natural, and institutional processes affecting reserve implementation and performance efficacy in the Gulf of California, Mexico. I used a combination of interviews, qualitative case study comparisons, and systematic conservation planning tools to evaluate the role of different infrastructures, institutions, and governance for marine reserve efficacy in the Gulf of California, Mexico. At a local scale, I assessed stakeholder perceptions, preferences, and knowledge on reserves in the Midriff Islands sub-region of the Gulf. My results show differences in fisher perceptions about the use of reserves for biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, misconceptions about their location, and non-compliance behavior problems. At the regional scale, I explored the trajectories of reserve implementation and performance. I show that capacity-building programs and effective collaboration between non-profit organizations, environmental, fisheries, and other government authorities are essential to coordinate efforts leading to the provisioning of infrastructure that enables effective marine reserves. Furthermore, these programs help facilitate the incorporation of fishers into diversified management and economic activities. Infrastructure provision tradeoffs should be carefully balanced for designing scientifically-sound reserves that can achieve fisheries recovery objectives and incorporating stakeholder engagement processes during the planning phase that allow fishers to include their preferences in a way that complements proposed reserve network solutions. Overall, my results highlight the importance of multiple infrastructures in understanding the dynamics of interacting action situations at various stages of marine reserve implementation and operation. I identify strengths and weaknesses within marine reserve systems that help understand what combinations of infrastructures can be influenced to increase marine reserve effectiveness and robustness to internal and external challenges, as well as delivering benefits for both nature and people.
Globally, the incidental capture of non-target species in fisheries (bycatch) has been linked to declines of ecologically, economically, and culturally important marine species. Gillnet fisheries have especially high bycatch due to their non-selective nature, necessitating the development of new bycatch reduction technologies (BRTs). Net illumination is an emerging BRT that has shown promise in reducing bycatch of marine megafauna, including sea turtles, cetaceans, and seabirds. However, little research has been conducted to understand the effects of net illumination on fish assemblages, including bony fish and elasmobranchs (i.e. sharks, rays, and skates). Here, I assessed a 7-year dataset of paired net illumination trials using four different types of light (green LEDs, green chemical glowsticks, ultraviolet (UV) lights, and orange lights) to examine the effects of net illumination on fish catch and bycatch in a gillnet fishery at Baja California Sur, Mexico. Analysis revealed no significant effect on bony fish target catch or bycatch for any light type. There was a significant decrease in elasmobranch bycatch using UV and orange lights, with orange lights showing the most promise for decreasing elasmobranch bycatch, resulting in a 50% reduction in bycatch rates. Analysis of the effects of net illumination on elasmobranch target catch was limited due to insufficient data. These results indicate that the illumination of gillnets may offer a practical solution for reducing fish bycatch while maintaining target catch. More research should be conducted to understand the effects of net illumination in different fisheries, how net illumination affects fisher profit and efficiency, and how net illumination affects fish behavior. Further optimization of net illumination is also necessary before the technology can be recommended on a broader scale.