SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Mexican Resorts Destroying Mangroves, Dooming Fisheries

from National Geographic News

The loss of Mexico's coastal mangrove forests to development is threatening the country's multimillion-dollar fishing industry, according to a new study.

Around Mexico's Gulf of California—between Baja California peninsula and the west coast of the mainland—mangroves are being destroyed to make way for high-end tourism resorts, marinas, and controversial industrial shrimp farms.

The government has overvalued such development and grossly undervalued the vital role mangroves play in supporting the region's U.S. $19-million-dollar fishing industry, the report said. The Gulf of California harbors more than a hundred fish species, 30 percent of which depend on mangroves for survival.