Cabo Pulmo National Park (Mexico) community no-take success
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
- Researchers PLoS ONE (2011): Fish biomass rose 463% between 1999 and 2009; this is weight, not number of fish. PLoS ONE
- Communities and civil society A local statement circulated in 2021, source unclear: There is 600% more life. Mongabay Latam
A village of about 100 people stopped fishing on its own reef in 1995. A peer-reviewed measurement found fish biomass rose from 0.75 to 4.24 tonnes per hectare between 1999 and 2009, while control areas did not change.
Peer-reviewed measurement (+463%); control areas showed no change.
Status As of October 2025: the park's biomass gain is documented to 2009; visitor pressure, too few rangers and a new road are reported, and the Cabo Cortes land remains in private hands.
- Local tourism businesses — Five businesses earned about US$538,800 in 2006.
- Families who gave up fishing — Lost income and tradition. Development and Cooperation (D+C)
What happened
In 1995 a village of about 100 people on the Gulf of California stopped fishing on its own reef. The area was declared a national park the same year, and the fishing ban covered nearly all of it. The sources reviewed state that boat captains, dive guides and a few families enforced the rule. The park covers 71 km2.
A peer-reviewed measurement in PLoS ONE, published on 12 August 2011, found that fish biomass in the park rose from 0.75 to 4.24 tonnes per hectare between 1999 and 2009, an increase of 463%, with top predators about 11 times more abundant and no change in control areas. The article attributes the result to the village's leadership and self-enforcement and gives no share of the credit to non-governmental organisations.
A large tourism project, Cabo Cortes, with about 30,000 rooms on 3,800 ha, 17 km from the reef, was cancelled in June 2012. WWF Mexico described the cancellation as a major victory. A second project, Cabo Dorado, was withdrawn in 2014. The Cabo Cortes land remains in the hands of its Spanish owners and a new application is possible.
Mongabay Latam reported in 2021 that the park received about 40,000 visitors a year according to one scientist, that rangers were too few, that a new road was being built into the park, and that Mario Castro, one of the village's guardians, regretted promoting the park in the media. Development and Cooperation (D+C) reported in October 2025 that more than 90% of reefs in the Gulf of California had degraded and that families who gave up fishing lost income and tradition.
- 1995Village stops fishing on its reef; area declared a national park (71 km2)
- 2009End of the measurement period: fish biomass 4.24 t/ha, up from 0.75 t/ha in 1999
- 2011PLoS ONE publishes the biomass measurement (12 August); Scripps announces the reserve as the world's most robust marine reserve
- 2012Cabo Cortes tourism project cancelled (June); WWF Mexico calls it a major victory
- 2014Cabo Dorado project withdrawn
- 2021Mongabay Latam reports visitor pressure, too few rangers and a new road
- 2025D+C reports that more than 90% of Gulf of California reefs are degraded
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Fish biomass rose 463% between 1999 and 2009; this is weight, not number of fish.
PLoS ONEThere is 600% more life.
Mongabay LatamHow it looked
Shown
- The cancellation of Cabo Cortes presented as a major victory.Omar Vidal, WWF Mexico director general · Expansion
- The reserve announced as the world's most robust marine reserve (2011).Scripps Institution of Oceanography · Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- A claim that there is '600% more life' in Cabo Pulmo.A local statement, source unclear · Mongabay Latam
Recorded
- Fish biomass rose from 0.75 to 4.24 t/ha between 1999 and 2009 (+463%); top predators about 11 times; no change in control areas.
- The 463% figure measures total biomass (weight), not the number of fish.
- About 40,000 visitors a year, according to one scientist; too few rangers; a new road in the park.
- More than 90% of reefs in the Gulf of California are degraded.
- In 2006 five local tourism businesses with fewer than 30 employees earned about US$538,800.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- wwf-mexico (2012-06): Its director general, Omar Vidal, described the cancellation of Cabo Cortes as a major victory. · Expansion
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
- Disputed How much did marine life increase?
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Accounts
- Disputed Who deserves credit for the recovery?
Record
- None on record No peer-reviewed biomass series after 2009 was found in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The split of tourism income between local and outside businesses is not on record.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the Greenpeace Mexico petition against Cabo Cortes gathered 220,000 signatures; the figure comes of Greenpeace Mexico's page.
- None on record It could not be verified whether the community's success was used in fundraising appeals by large organisations.
Did the harm stop?
Fishing in the park stopped in 1995; the sources reviewed record biomass rising from 1999 to 2009. Two large tourism projects were cancelled or withdrawn, though the Cabo Cortes land remains with its owners.
Who paid?
Families who gave up fishing lost income and tradition (D+C, 2025).
Sources
Press and investigations
- Cabo Pulmo: climate change and excess tourists put the marine sanctuary at riskMongabay Latam · 2021-03-31
- The Gulf of California has seen reefs decline, Cabo Pulmo has rebounded after residents stopped fishingDevelopment and Cooperation (D+C) · 2025-10-08
Communities and civil society
- Cabo Pulmo, una historia de exito para la gente y la vida marinaGreenpeace Mexico ·
Researchers
- PLoS ONE article on fish biomass recovery at Cabo PulmoPLoS ONE · 2011-08-12
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography news page on Cabo PulmoScripps Institution of Oceanography · 2011