A blue innovation boosting the resilience of coastal communities and marine ecosystems (COBI)

The Big Islands region in the Gulf of California (Mexico) is recognised as a priority area for marine conservation and four protected natural areas have been created since the 1990s. Preserving the biodiversity and fishing resources here is essential for the local coastal communities, who rely heavily on fishing. However, existing efforts are not sufficient to counter over-exploitation and its negative ecological, social and economic consequences.

The innovative project supported by the FFEM seeks to foster the emergence, co-construction and deployment of sustainable fishing solutions. It also aims to strengthen the resilience of the marine environment and community adaptability in the face of global changes.

The project has 3 components:

• Ensuring the systematisation, consolidation and distribution of solutions (products, projects or services boosting the resilience of coastal communities, without compromising the health of the oceans) already implemented across the Big Islands region, to ensure their transferability while promoting the emergence of new financially-sustainable initiatives.
• Developing and embedding tools and a social innovation network to facilitate communication, exchanges between fishers, and solution transfers.
• Encouraging the upscaling and deployment of solutions within the Big Islands region, Mexico and further afield.

• Incorporation of 25 solutions and 100 adaptation actions from the communities in the Big Islands region into the “Innovación Azul” (“Blue Innovation”) initiative supported by COBI, the civil society organisation in receipt of project financing.
• Definition of sustainable financial mechanisms so communities can implement the solutions.
• Enhanced use of “PescaData”, a collaborative fish monitoring and management tool for better data sharing
• Improved gender equality in decision-making for fishing matters and in the visibility of women in the fishing value chain.
• Knowledge transfer to new generations of fishers from the region and from Mexico.

Supported by the FFEM, this innovative project aims to build on the approaches and solutions created jointly by various local stakeholders able to strengthen and extend the change dynamic across the region. As such, fishers – and particularly women – will be involved in developing participatory sciences and innovative digital tools. The social innovation network designed to facilitate exchanges between communities is also innovative in its construction, goals and means of action, made possible by technology. Technology is helping to spark community creativity. Another innovative aspect is the financial sustainability sought by the project, particularly by requesting stakeholder contributions.