The publication of the Sader and Semarnat Sectorial Programs marks the completion of the first phase
of monitoring the
Marine Amlometer 1 proposals related to the oceans agenda. On this platform you will be able to see
the level of
progress of each of the proposals due to the links they have with the specific actions of the
Sectorial Programs.
Findings
Amlomometer
Marino is made up of a total of 47 proposals that were grouped into three
thematic categories 2 to
facilitate monitoring: Social Welfare (8 proposals), Governance (31) and Markets (8). 51% of the total number of Marine Amlometer
proposals, that is, 24 out of 47, are related to at least one specific action of the
Sectorial Programmes.
The commitments in the Governance category touch on issues such as the
inter-institutional coordination of Conapesca, and fisheries management through the updating and purification of the
databases of economic units, and commercial fishing permits and concessions 3. On
the other hand, most
of the commitments of the Semarnat Sectorial Program linked to Marine Water Meter focus on
conservation issues, such as the consolidation and promotion of protected natural areas or ensuring access to public environmental
information in accordance with proactive transparency schemes 4.
In the
Welfare
category, the commitments correspond to proposals that address the capacity development of
producers and researchers, or the strengthening of fishing organizations; and a large part of the
commitments in the Markets category are linked to the issue of fishing certification.
Of the universe
of specific actions that make up the strategies and objectives of the Sectorial Programs, just under a
quarter is linked to AmloMetro Marino, which means that the proposals presented during the
electoral period found little echo in the public policy design of the Federal Public Administration documents.
Ideally, the process of monitoring proposals and commitments closes its cycle by following
up on declarations and verifying government activities that comply with them. To this end,
it is necessary for the authority to make documents available to citizens to corroborate the effective implementation of public
policy.
How is the implementation of the proposals going?
Statements and activities of the federal government have been identified that are linked to Marine Amlometer and
show some level of progress:
Governance
- Recently, Conapesca announced the launch of the National Campaign for Fishery
Regularization 2020-2021, which seeks to incorporate thousands of irregular fishermen into the National Fisheries and Aquaculture
Register5.
- The federal government's commitments to protect Mexico
's
oceans
and increase the number of fishing shelters within the framework of the ocean action agenda of the High-Level Panel
for a Sustainable Ocean Economy 6.
- The restructuring of the programs and their
components: the Program for
the Promotion
of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture, which replaces the previous Program for the Promotion of Fishery and Aquaculture
Productivity, prioritizes the direct delivery of support to small producers through “Bienesca”.
In addition, the trend to eliminate fuel subsidies continues, as this year the
amount of support starting in June was reduced to zero.
- Sign agreements between Sader and
state governments for inspection and surveillance and for generating a real census of fishing effort 7.
-
The
intersecretarial table that monitors the Sustainability Initiative in the Northern Gulf of California,
led by Sader and Semarnat 8.
- The collaboration agreement between Semarnat and
Inegi,
which seeks to
strengthen the availability and access to statistical and geographical information on the state of the
environment and natural resources in Mexico 9.
Markets
- Create the Marketing Department to support fish and aquaculture producers in the process of
strengthening production chains 10.
- Creation of the Committee for the Management and Sustainable Management of the Shrimp Fishery in the Pacific Ocean,
as well as
increasing
aquaculture shrimp production with the creation of the first research center for genetic improvement 11.
Social Welfare
- Conapesca and Fira announced that they seek to grant long-term financial loans to small and very small
producers, marketers and suppliers,
through the Mexican Fund for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development 12.
There have also been government activities that have gone in the opposite direction to what was expressed in 2018, for example:
- The intention to transfer the powers related to inspection and surveillance from Conapesca to
Profepa changed, when Sader and Semar announced
the joint signing of the Framework and Specific Collaboration Agreements on Inspection and Surveillance.
Although
it is true that Semar could count on
more equipment to carry out this important work, there are concerns about the militarization of the citizen spaces of the federal public
administration, as well as the
ambiguity of the scope and limits of its functions 13.
- The budget for inspection and surveillance work fell considerably this year (70%),
from
152.8 to 45.3 million pesos. And more
needs to be done to strengthen surveillance through the use of cutting-edge technology, as proposed in 2018.
- Grants considered positive, given to fishing communities and organizations to implement inspection and surveillance
projects, or for the
establishment of fishing shelter area networks, were canceled in 2019.
- One of the proposals in 2018 was to ensure sufficient resources for the conservation of marine
protected, coastal and insular areas, but the reality
is that, although the trend in the budget allocated to the environmental sector was downward, with the cut in
current expenditure of the public budget announced on April 23 of this year,
the operations of Semarnat and Conanp are even more limited.
In 2020, the Covid-19 health emergency in Mexico caused an unprecedented economic crisis. In
this very adverse
context, the distribution of the budget must be sensitive to needs and respond to the
uncertainty faced by thousands of families dependent on aquaculture and fishing activities. The strategy in
2021 must be committed to continuing to provide support that increases the competitiveness of the sector, without compromising the
availability of marine resources. AmloMetro Marino will continue to monitor specific government actions.
Notes:
1 Amlometer Marine is a public policy monitoring initiative that follows up on campaign proposals related to the oceans, the fishing and aquaculture sector, coastal and island territories and marine conservation, and that were presented during the electoral contest in 2018. To this end, we make use of the Polimeter digital platform designed to track and make transparent information about the promises, commitments and performance of public officials and/or government institutions, as well as to encourage the principles of open government and strengthen democracy.
3 Specific action 3.1.2 of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Program 2020-2024.
4 Specific actions 1.1.1 and 5.3.5 of the Environment and Natural Resources Sectorial Program 2020-2024.
5 Press release from Conapesca: https://bit.ly/2Lxg4Lj
6 Ocean-Panel, Transformations for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, 2020.
7 Press release from Conapesca: https://bit.ly/2XCNRUm
8 Press release from the Ministry of the Interior: https://bit.ly/2Q5pFbi
9 Semarnat press release: https://bit.ly/3bgXfEM
10 Press release from Conapesca: https://bit.ly/343CUR5
11 Press release from Conapesca: https://bit.ly/2KeMObx and https://bit.ly/378r2in
12 Press release from Conapesca: https://bit.ly/2WCHajL
13 Conapesca press release: https://bit.ly/3maeSdj and https://bit.ly/2KlCdLC
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