Coastal Livelihoods in Constant Tension
How coastal communities in Campeche navigate livelihoods from ocean resources under pressure—a challenge shared by many ocean dependants around the world.
Like many coastal towns in Latin America, livelihoods in Yucatán and Campeche are closely tied to the ocean. Local artisanal fishers depend on seasonal species to make a living such as the Mayan octopus and other year-round catches of fish and crab. Recent climate changes have intensified environmental pressures, pushing fishers to seek alternative incomes in other towns, or adapt to the fewer local options available.
In remote towns like Isla Arena, Campeche, ecotourism has become an alternative livelihood for some, built on the relationships guides and visitors form with the place and its wildlife.
On a boat ride through the mangroves, our guide—a local, wore a rash guard printed with photos of him and his family fishing, proudly wearing this part of his identity like a uniform. Eager to share his knowledge of Isla Arena and the fishing dynamics with us researchers, he paused to speak to a few fishers in the area.
A couple was fishing for crab in the shallows, working hours in the midday sun, while other fishers dove to the sandy bottom using a surface-supplied air hose—an illegal fishing technique that lets them stay underwater to catch whatever species they find, often at a high safety risk.
On the boat ride through the mangroves, our guide led us past flocks of flamingos feeding in the shallow marshes before heading to walk around a wooden platform among the mangroves. In some areas, underwater freshwater holes from cenotes caused mesmerizing swirls on the ocean water surface. This was the typical ecotour offered to visitors, absorbing ecological knowledge on flamingos, mangroves, and the local environment.
Aware of his audience of fisheries researchers, our tour guide resumed our main quest to speak to local fishers in the area.
At a nearby dock, we spent nearly an hour with a middle-aged fisher who spoke candidly about the pressures of fishing: declining catches, regulatory restrictions, and the frustration towards the government programs that were supposed to financially assist fishers. His words emulated the tension of relying on the ocean while having little control over access, regulations, or the options available to sustain a living.
To conclude this unique tour, our guide took us to a small, remote beach where fragments of Mayan pottery wash ashore. I picked up a piece that still had design lines. He noted that finds like this are extremely unique. A truly special place, accessible only by boat, visited by only a few…
I left feeling another interesting tension, locals must navigate the pressures of capitalism and survive by relying on a natural environment already under pressure, while living among historical treasures of incomparable intrinsic value.
