Territorial Changes and the Fisheries of La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

This chapter analyzes how policy impacted the landscape of coastal wetlands and the territory of artisanal fishermen. The study area is La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, which is in the south west of Mexico along the Pacific Coast. We studied historical, political, and economic processes. We found that building hydrological infrastructure was a political act to expand the agricultural frontier whilst overlooking the realities of the wetlands and the artisanal fishermen. The Mexican Government has promoted agricultural plantations since the early twentieth century, but especially the expansion of oil palms in the last decades has caused significant impacts on the environment. However, the conservation policy of La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve has been an obstacle to the growth of plantations, rendering the territorialities more controversial in a complex landscape of coastal wetlands. At present, the livelihoods of artisanal fisheries have been reduced dramatically, affecting the traditions and the welfare of local communities.