Fish selection by size for commercialization. © A. Cinti

Many Latin-American small-scale fisheries (SSFs) operate within ecologically sensitive areas. Reconciling conservation with resource use is socially and politically challenging, due to the large number of people involved and the significance of fishing for their livelihoods. Diverse institutional arrangements (diverse forms of marine protected areas or MPAs) have been independently designed and implemented in several Latin-American countries to accommodate SSFs and conservation. Nonetheless, institutional factors are primary sources of difficulties for proper functioning (e.g. overlapping jurisdiction). This project will examine and compare the performance of different designs of MPAs and their impact on the achievement of their established goals.