Marine protected areas have been established as essential components for managing and protecting coral reefs to mitigate natural and anthropogenic stressors. One noteworthy example within the Mexican Caribbean is the Arrecife de Puerto Morelos National Park (APMNP), where several studies on the coral communities have been carried out since 2006. In June 2019, we conducted a study in eight sites of the APMNP applying a coral reef assessment method based on biological indicators of both the benthos and the fish communities. In this paper, we present the quantitative results of our study and provide a qualitative criterion assessing seven condition indexes through a scoring system. We also present a statistical comparison with a previous study carried out in 2016. The general status of coral reefs was classified as regular due to the low values of coral recruitment rate and biomass of key commercial fish species. However, living coral cover average was above 20%, with a slight dominance of framework building coral species and the presence of low values of fleshy algae cover, these being positive indicators. Our study found a higher proportion of reef promoter elements and a lower proportion of detractors, compared to a previous study carried out in 2016.

In the Mexican Caribbean, 15 marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established for managing and protecting marine ecosystems. These MPAs receive high anthropogenic pressure from coastal development, tourism, and fishing, all in synergy with climate change. To contribute to the MPAs’ effectiveness, it is necessary to provide a long-term observation system of the condition of marine ecosystems and species. Our study proposes the establishment of a new marine biodiversity monitoring program (MBMP) focusing on three MPAs of the Mexican Caribbean. Five conservation objects (COs) were defined (coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves, marine turtles, and sharks-rays) for their ecological relevance and the pressures they are facing. Coral reef, seagrass and mangroves have multiple biological, biogeochemical and physical interactions. Marine turtles are listed as endangered species, and the status of their populations is unknown in the marine area of the MPAs. Elasmobranchs play a key role as top and medium predators, and their populations have been poorly studied. Indicators were proposed for monitoring each CO. As a technological innovation, all information obtained from the MBMP will be uploaded to the Coastal Marine Information and Analysis System (SIMAR), a public, user-friendly and interactive web platform that allows for automatic data management and processing.

Mexico has committed to protecting 30% of its marine territory by 2030 to comply with Target 3 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted during the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of meeting this commitment by determining the marine extent of conservation measures based on legally established Marine Protected Areas and areas that meet the criteria to be considered as Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) and determining the marine extent of areas proposed in various conservation planning exercises that can be created as any of the area-based instruments that exist in Mexico. The total coverage of existing and proposed areas was calculated by merging the dataset to remove duplicates and dissolving the boundaries between polygons to determine the total area. Spatial analysis was carried out in ArcGIS using geoprocessing tools. Currently, more than 25% of Mexico’s marine area is legally protected or conserved, with federal marine protected areas covering more than 22% of the Exclusive Economic Zone. The legally established areas that can be considered OECMs cover about 3% of the marine territory. We found that more than 9% of Mexico’s Economic Exclusive Zone contains areas of high conservation importance that are not covered by any area-based instrument. This study shows that Mexico has the potential to protect or conserve 32.8% of its marine territory by 2030.

Introducción: Las comunidades de macroalgas marinas del Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes no han sido estudiadas desde el punto de vista cuantitativo, a pesar de la influencia que la vegetación submarina tiene sobre la estructura y el funcionamiento de los ecosistemas costeros, componente que hasta ahora ha sido subestimado en la región. Objetivo: Evaluar la variación temporal y espacial de los géneros de macroalgas en dos estaciones de María la Gorda, sur del Parque Nacional de Guanahacabibes, y evaluar la salud del arrecife de acuerdo con la cobertura de los diferentes morfo-tipos de macroalgas predominantes. Métodos: El estudio se realizó entre febrero de 2014 y marzo de 2017 en Laberinto y Yemayá con una frecuencia cuatrimestral, mediante buceo autónomo a una profundidad de 10 m. La cobertura algal fue estimada siguiendo la metodología AGRRA. Se calculó el porcentaje de cobertura que aporta cada género y de los grupos morfo-funcionales a la cobertura total encontrada en el área de estudio. Resultados: Los géneros dominantes durante el periodo de estudio fueron: Dictyota, Lobophora y Halimeda. Las algas carnosas y calcáreas mostraron mayor cubrimiento en Laberinto que en Yemayá, no siendo así con las formas costrosas. El índice de las carnosas fue superior en Laberinto. Conclusión: Se aporta una línea base para futuros estudios de monitoreo en Guanahacabibes y se sugiere que las evaluaciones ecológicas rápidas de macroalgas en el campo a nivel de género son un indicador confiable que se puede usar para monitorear cambios temporales.

The reef fish communities of the Guanahacabibes National Park have been studied for 20 years using various methodologies that have allowed us to understand aspects of their diversity and structure. However, due to gaps in information about the abundance and distribution of mesopredators (big fish and sharks), a new study was conducted in 2017 to determine their structure, explore the influence of different factors on their spatial variability, and evaluate their behavior. To achieve this, the Baited Remote Underwater Video Surveys (BRUVs) methodology was successfully applied, locating a single set of BRUVs at 90 sites distributed across 9 sectors of the park’s functional zoning. Variability in mesopredator metrics and their potential prey was assessed through a PERMANOVA analysis; a distance-based linear model (DISTLM) was used to explore the relationship between mesopredator abundance and biological, abiotic, and condition variables; and animal behavior was classified as incidental, cautious, or aggressive. A total of 64 fish species were identified, 7 of which were mesopredators, and 3 were sharks. An uneven distribution and abundance were observed among sectors, with the most abundant mesopredators being Carcharhinus perezi, Sphyraena barracuda, and Mycteroperca bonaci. Mesopredator abundance was more closely related to the condition of zone use and its regulations than to biological and abiotic variables. Sharks were more abundant in strictly protected areas, which coincided with relatively murky waters and stronger currents. More than 50% of the observed sharks displayed exploratory and aggressive behavior towards the bait basket. The analyzed metrics validate the effectiveness of the management of the protected area and suggest the presence of healthy and resilient mesopredator fish communities.