Species Use Database

Maya octopus
Octopus maya

Used for Food and feed in Campeche

A. Species

Scientific name: Octopus maya

Common name(s): Maya octopus

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Campeche

Country/Region: Mexico / Campeche State


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State

Name/Details of location: State of Campeche / Isla Arena and Villa Madero fishing communities


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2006

End Year: 2016


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed

Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community) and Largescale commercial exploitation for trade

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This octopus fishery in Campeche is robustly regulated in an attempt to achieve sustainability (time will tell) by the Secretaría de Pesca y Acuacultura [Secretariat of of Fisheries and Aquaculture] and the Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación [Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food]

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: These regulatory authorities have established repeatable, sustainable catch quotas, if complied with, implying a stable population under sustained catch effort.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: A profitable industry, but not all communities follow the rules applied to assure sustainability.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The octopus fishery is designed to be sustainable in Campeche, provided communities (such as Isla Arena) follow the rules; unfortunately a proportion of communities (such as Villa Madero) flout these rules (fish without permits / don't follow guidance) - the consequences of which, in the long-term, remain to be ascertained. Questionnaire data suggested that each community behaved in their own way and established its own local decision-making systems while considering socioeconomic risk and market demands. Provided some proportion of use is unsustainable, implicitly this destabilizes the sustainability of use.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Not recorded


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

The authors propose that the sustainable management of the Campeche O. maya fishery will require greater data transparency and fluidity between government institutions and fishers, negotiation of compliance with current regulations, and more effective legal enforcement of them.


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2019-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Rosales Raya, M. L., & Berdugo, J. E. F. (2019). Decision making in the Campeche Maya Octopus fishery in two fishing communities. Maritime Studies, 18(1), 91-101.

Date of record entry: 2022-12-08