Alejandro Robles

Research

Alejandro Robles is director of Iniciativa Noroeste Sustenable Conservation International, Mexico and Central America. He is also a nonprofit conservation leader in his native Mexico, where he specializes in mitigating the effects of human activities on biodiversity, including fishing impacts. Robles used his Pew fellowship to mitigate the negative impacts of the shrimp bottom-trawling industry in the Gulf of California, in particular looking at bycatch and habitat destruction. Working with local communities, fishermen, government agencies, and industry representatives, he analyzed alternatives to current fishing scheme and proposed an integrated program of improved management mechanisms, gear modification, and introduction of restricted fishing areas. After several years of work on the part of Robles and his team, the shrimp industry was persuaded to promote reduction of the shrimp fleet through a buyout. An agreement was reached among the main actors: Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food; its Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources; and shrimp industry representatives.