PHOTOS: Mexico Risks Losing Mangroves, Fisheries

PHOTOS: Mexico Risks Losing Mangroves, Fisheries
    1 of 3   Next >>
July 22, 2008—The sun warms a patch of mangrove forest near Mexico's Espíritu Santo island last June in the Gulf of California.

The loss of mangrove forests to coastal development is threatening the region's multimillion-dollar fishing industry, according to a new study.

Around Mexico's Gulf of California—between the Baja California peninsula and the west coast of the Mexican mainland—mangroves are being destroyed to make way for high-end tourism resorts, according to the report by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

Researchers found that in the Gulf of California 2.5 acres (1 hectare) of coastal mangrove support an average of U.S. $37,500 worth of commercial fish and crab species annually.

More Photos in the News
Today's Top 15 Most Popular Stories
Free Email Newsletter: "Focus on Photography"
—Photograph by Octavio Aburto-Oropeza
 

EMAIL NEWSLETTER Photos and News of the Week

Get the top photos and news of the week from National Geographic News, plus occasional breaking-news alerts.

See Sample >>
Please enter a valid email address
Privacy Policy
NEWS FEEDS    After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed. After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed.

Get our news delivered directly to your desktop—free.
How to Use XML or RSS




 

Photo and Headline Widget

Put our latest news and photos on your Web page or desktop—automatically updates! See Sample