Efforts by the Mexican government to create conservation zones and nature reserves have been hampered by lack of enforcement resources as well as a lack of a political consensus on this issue of conservation of the Gulf. This occurs even though significant areas are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The thousands of miles of coastline are remote and difficult to police, and the politically powerful commercial fishing industry has been slow to embrace even economically viable conservation measures. Conservation of the gulf's fisheries and coastlines is also complicated by a long history of overcapitalization in the sector, and the direct, often negative, impacts that conservation measures have on the livelihoods of Mexico's coastal inhabitants. At present, the Mexican government and business interests have promoted a macro-level, tourist development vision for the gulf, the impacts of which on local ecology and society are uncertain. In 2019, the gulf was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger because of concerns of the imminent extinction of the vaquita, an endemic porpoise in the area.
Efforts by the Mexican government to create conservation zones and nature reserves have been hampered by lack of enforcement resources as well as a lack of a political consensus on this issue of conservation of the Gulf. This occurs even though significant areas are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The! thousands of miles of coastline are remote and difficult to police, and the politically powerful commercial fishing industry has been slow to embrace even economically viable conservation measures. Conservation of the gulf's fisheries and coastlines is also comp,licated by a long history of overcapitalizatio!n in the sector, and the direct, often negative, impacts that conservation measures have on the livelihoods of Mexico's coastal inhabitants. At present, the Mexican government and business interests have promoted a macro-level, tourist development vision for the gulf, the impacts of which on local ecology and society are uncertain. In 2019, the gulf was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger because of concerns of the imminent ex:tinction of the vaquita, an endemic porpoise in the area.